


Matched

by fancywalrus



Category: Glee
Genre: Alternate Universe, Arranged Marriage, Fluff, Future Fic, M/M, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-14
Updated: 2015-08-22
Packaged: 2018-04-09 07:02:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 54,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4338554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fancywalrus/pseuds/fancywalrus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the future, everyone is required to get married by the age of 25. If you don't declare yourself engaged by three months before your 25th birthday, the government will use a super-algorithm to find you the "perfect match." So when Kurt Hummel defaults to using the program, he's shocked to find himself matched with an old high school enemy- Blaine Anderson.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. You've Been Matched!

Kurt couldn’t believe what was happening. Of course, he had heard in the news, but he didn’t really believe it. He just assumed it was a joke. He looked down at the letter in his hands. That’s how Rachel found him when she came home a few minutes later. Sitting frozen in the kitchen, letter in hands, unable to blink.   
“Kurt?”  
He looked up at her.   
“Oh, I see you got your letter.”   
He simply nodded. Rachel came over and gave him a giant hug.   
“Did you get yours yet?”  
“Um, actually no, because Jesse and I decided to get married.”   
“Oh,” Kurt said. It made sense, after all. She and Jesse had started dating recently. He had moved back to New York, and they were in a production together. They saw each other all of the time. Kurt, on the other hand, had no one. Sure, he knew of other eligible gay men that he could marry, but not one that he wanted to. And it seemed like everyone had already found someone else.   
“Well if you want, I could help you find someone. I know this great guy from the theater who…”  
“You know what Rachel, that’s okay. I think I’ll be fine. I don’t even have time to think about this right now.” He stood up and discarded the letter on the table. “I really just need to focus on this audition for now.”   
“Kurt, this is really important, though. I mean, you’re gonna have to spend the rest of your life with this person.”   
“Rachel, there’s no way I’m going to fall in love in three months, okay? I’m just going to let the government match me and try to work it out.”  
Rachel sighed. This whole program was ridiculous. The government had recently passed a new law saying that everyone had to be married by the age of 25. Kurt and Rachel were 24, and Kurt was turning 25 in three months. Neither of them had really believed it until their friends who were older started getting letters in the mail saying that if they didn’t find a spouse in three months, they would be “matched” by love.org, a “dating” website that the government set up for this new law. Basically, when the law passed, if you were older than 25, you had three months to find someone and get married. If you were younger than 25, you had to get married by your 25th birthday. If you couldn’t find someone and register them as your spouse, then the government made you a profile on the website to help find a match. It wasn’t really a dating website, though. You didn’t even really have to do any work. In fact, you just had to check to see who your match was. The government would go through all of your social media accounts, phone conversations, texts, and purchases to see what your interests were, and it would use a super algorithm to calculate who would best match you. And that was it. Then you had to meet and marry the person. Once you declared that you couldn’t find someone by yourself, and you put it in the government’s hands, you were legally bound to marry whoever the algorithm chose for you. Rachel thought it was extremely risky.   
“Kurt, you really think that’s a good idea?”  
“What other choice do I have, Rachel? I don’t know anyone who would possibly want to marry me.”  
“You could at least try, Kurt.”   
“I don’t wanna try. Trying requires effort and time, and I really need to focus on this audition. This could be my big break Rachel!”   
Kurt was auditioning for his first Broadway lead in a show. It was a new musical, one that Elton John had written the songs for. The book was actually written by one of Jesse’s friends. It was about a flamboyant young gay man who was trying to pass as straight while working as a lawyer. It was going to be huge, and if Kurt got the part, it would most definitely propel him to stardom.   
“I know Kurt, I’m just worried.”  
“Look, obviously my career is more important to me than my husband will be. Especially now since I have to marry a complete stranger. I hope he understands that. But since you’re so concerned, why don’t you come with me to meet him? I was going to register as single and let the computer match me up now.”   
“Okay Kurt, if that makes you happy, yes, I will go with you to meet him.”   
“Good. I really just hope he’s not a psychopath or something.” 

Blaine Anderson sat in the wooden chair at his desk, staring at his hands on the keyboard for a while before daring himself to look up at the screen. He wasn’t exactly happy about the marriage law that the government set up, but he had to get matched. There was no one he knew that he could possibly marry. He had just moved to New York City, and he knew absolutely no one. He had been living in Ohio before this, teaching music to middle schoolers, when his band got discovered. So he left when the school year ended, and he and all his band members, Tina, Santana, and Sam, had moved to New York. He had met them when he transferred to McKinley High School his Junior year. Currently, Blaine lived in a small apartment that he shared with Sam.   
They had been having a pretty great time so far. Their producer, Mercedes Jones, who had also gone to McKinley with them, was really cool, and they were recording their first single. Everything was going fine, really, it’s just that Blaine was so busy, with being the songwriter and lead singer of their band, that he didn’t really have a chance to get out and meet guys. And now he was six months away from turning 25, and he had to get married. But he would be lying if he didn’t say a little, tiny part of him was just the smallest bit happy. He never really thought he would get married, never thought the right guy would come along. But now, Blaine was being matched. And he had heard from some friends that the government’s algorithm was pretty intense and usually led to good matches. So he was pretty excited. Maybe, if fate really did exist, he would meet the love of his life, his true love. No matter what, though, Blaine was determined to make his marriage work, even if it was technically an arranged marriage to a complete stranger.   
Ping!   
The computer chimed. Blaine looked up. “You’ve been matched!” it read. Blaine clicked on the little envelope. He held his breath in anticipation, but he didn’t even get to see what the result was before he was interrupted.   
“Whatcha up to hobbit?” Santana barged into his room without knocking, as was her custom. Blaine frantically tried to switch tabs, but not before Santana saw what he was looking at.   
“Ooh, a dating website? Are you really that desperate for some ass, Anderson? Because if so, I’m sure I can find you someone at this gay bar that I saw…”   
“Santana, it’s not a dating website. I’m being matched.”  
“Matched? You really let the government decide who you’re going to marry? You trust that stupid super algorithm?”   
He looked at her in annoyance.   
“Not all of us are lucky enough to have someone like Brittany.”   
Santana and Brittany had been dating since high school and were madly in love. They were obviously getting married. Tina was also marrying her high school sweetheart, a guy named Mike. And Sam had just started dating their producer, Mercedes, and they were probably going to get married as well. Blaine was the only one of them who had no one. Even though he had gone to Dalton Academy, an all boys school, for his first two years of high school, he had never had a boyfriend. He had been too busy leading the Warblers, their acapella show choir.   
“So what flaming gay elf did Uncle Sam think was appropriate to pair you up with? Or are you into the more bear-like gays?”   
“It’s none of your business,” Blaine said with a pointed look. Usually he was a pretty cheery person, but he didn’t want Santana to know and say something snarky about his future husband.   
“Come on, let me see! He can’t be that ugly.” Santana tried to tear the laptop away from Blaine. Blaine yelled and blocked her. Sam heard the commotion and came rushing in.   
“Woah guys, what’s going on here?”   
“Blaine won’t show me who he got matched with!” Santana yelled.   
“Because it’s none of your business!” Blaine yelled back.   
“Okay, calm down. Santana, let go of the laptop and hand it over.” Sam stuck out his hands. Santana regretfully gave him the computer.   
“Thank you Sam,” said Blaine. Then he held out his hands to take the computer back from Sam. Suddenly, Sam turned around and ran out of the room. Santana followed him, but only after she pushed Blaine on the bed.   
“Oh, come on!” Blaine yelled. He ran out to the living room. Sam and Santana had plopped down on the couch next to Tina, and were telling him they were going to find out who Blaine’s match was.   
“Let’s see it!” Tina said.   
“No!” Blaine yelled futilely. No one paid any attention to him.   
“Alright,” Santana said, “let’s see who hobbit’s little wife will be.”   
“She scrolled through the results and stopped at the picture. Their mouths dropped open.   
“Oh my God,” said Tina.   
“Dude!” exclaimed Sam.   
“Wanky,” said Santana.   
“What?!” yelled Blaine. “What’s wrong with him?” He started to walk around the couch so he could see, but Santana closed out of the page.   
“Why’d you do that?!” Blaine asked.  
“I already sent him an invitation to meet you. You’re going to meet for coffee at Jan’s tomorrow at 2pm.”   
“Why didn’t you let me see him?”   
“Because you don’t need to. It’s better if it’s a surprise.”   
“But Santana…”  
“Just trust me on this Anderson. Auntie Snix knows best.”   
“Guys, help me out here.” Blaine looked expectantly at Sam and Tina.   
“I don’t know, I think I’m with Satan on this one,” said Sam.   
“Agreed,” said Tina.   
“Oh come on!”   
“Yup, and I am confiscating this until after you meet him. And word to the wise, I would pick out the tightest, most colorful pants you have. And wear a bow tie.” Santana got up and stalked off to her room, taking Blaine’s laptop with her. Blaine flopped down on the couch. The suspense was going to kill him. 

“Rachel, look!” Kurt ran into Rachel’s room, holding his computer in his hands. He plopped down on her bed and shoved the laptop into her lap. Rachel had been rehearsing lines for the production she was currently in: a revival of Evita.   
“Kurt, was it? I’m busy.”  
“Rach, I got matched!”  
She immediately dropped her script and looked up at the computer. She gasped.   
“Kurt! Oh my gosh.”   
“I know! What do I do?!” he started shaking his hands in a panicked way.   
“Just stay calm. Did he ask you to meet him?   
“Yes. Tomorrow, for coffee. He messaged me. He said he’s excited to meet me.”  
“Aww, Kurt, that’s so cute!” Rachel cooed.   
“Not cute! Rachel, I don’t want to do this. I don’t know why you’re so excited about this.”  
“Because why not? Kurt, why don’t you give him a chance at least? What if he ends up being the love of your life? It could happen, you know. I mean, obviously you’re compatible.”   
Kurt sighed.   
“Okay, fine, I’ll give him a chance. I’m going to be as nice as I can.”  
“Yay!” Rachel threw her arms around Kurt. “Just wait, I bet this is going to turn out way better than you could’ve hoped.”


	2. The Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blaine and Kurt meet for the first time in years.

Blaine walked down the streets of New York city at a rapid pace. He was very anxious. He had just left the recording studio, and he was going to the coffee shop to meet his future husband. And he didn’t even know his future husband’s name.   
“Wait up! Stop walking so fast!” Santana yelled after him. Santana volunteered to go with him and Blaine agreed, since she at least knew who his mystery man was. Blaine slowed his steps a little. The coffee shop was on a slightly crowded street, but it didn’t look overly busy. It was a cute place, with wooden tables and lightbulbs hanging from the ceiling on cords. Santana and Blaine walked in. Then Blaine paused to look around. There were several young, attractive men in the coffee shop.  
“So,” he asked Santana, “which one is he?” She grabbed his arm and started pulling him in the opposite direction that he was looking.   
“Just come with me.” Blaine lost himself in his thoughts for a second.   
Oh God, this is happening. What if he’s old? What if he’s ugly? What if he’s hot, like way hotter than I am? Oh God, what if he doesn’t like me? What if he has a weird foot fetish, or worse, what if it’s a girl?! Or what if he’s allergic to hair gel and I can never wear it again?!  
A voice snapped him out of his musings.   
“Well, I see that some people never change. You still put a gallon of gel in your hair every morning, Anderson?”   
Blaine gasped and opened his eyes.   
“Kurt Hummel,” he whispered aloud.   
“The one and only,” Kurt said with a smirk. Rachel Berry was sitting next to him. Blaine hadn’t seen either of them since high school. After graduation they had both moved to New York and had never looked back.   
“Come on Berry, let’s go, leave the happy couple to talk and whatnot,” Santana said. Rachel stood up.   
“Okay, I haven’t seen you in a while Santana, I guess we can catch up.” Rachel looked at Kurt.   
“Will you be okay, Kurt?” He looked up at her and nodded hesitantly. Santana dragged Rachel away. After they were gone, Blaine sat down in the chair across from Kurt.   
“So,” Blaine began awkwardly.   
“Let me stop you right there,” Kurt interrupted. “Yes, I am going to be your husband. God knows why a computer algorithm thought that this,” he pointed between the two of them, “was a good idea. But it’s happening. I don’t want to be married to you, but that’s what we’re stuck with, alright? So let’s lay down some ground rules.” Kurt folded his hands and placed them on the table. He focused his cold gaze at Blaine. It chilled him to the bone.   
“I have a career, on Broadway. I’m going places, and I’m about to get my big break. I’m not going to let anyone come between that. I’ll be your husband, so we won’t break the law and get arrested. But I’m not going to cook for you, or clean for you, or be some sort of stay at home daddy for your kids. I’m not going to bring you roses or sing songs for you or tuck you in at night and tell you how much I love you. We will be civil to each other, and you will not get in my way. Capeesh?” He said that last sentence with an especially icy tone.   
Blaine almost felt like crying.   
“Okay,” he whispered.   
“Good,” Kurt said and folded his arms.   
“Um,” Blaine stood up. He had to step away. “I’m gonna get some coffee. Do you want anything to drink?”   
Kurt seemed to soften a bit when he saw that Blaine was being nice to him.   
“Uh, sure. Non-fat mocha?”   
“Coming right up.” Blaine walked quickly to the cash register which is right around the corner. He and Kurt had been sitting at a table close to a window. He walked up to the barista and placed the order. As he waited, he couldn’t help but let a tear slip from his eye. He felt completely blindsided. Why hadn’t Santana at least warned him that his match was Kurt? His words had stung so badly.   
Blaine had met Kurt when he met all the other New Directions, when he transferred to McKinley his Junior year of high school. He joined Glee club and was delighted to find another gay guy in the school, especially one that was so attractive. But Kurt hadn’t felt the same way. Blaine wasn’t sure why, but Kurt had never liked him. That much was fairly obvious. Every time Blaine had tried to talk to Kurt before, it had led to some kind of snarky retort in response, instead of the nice, warm comments Kurt always gave everyone else.   
He had been especially embarrassed at the end of his Junior year, when he made the biggest mistake of all. See, he had always had a little crush on Kurt. Okay, a big crush, really. Who wouldn’t? He was tall, lean, and had soft looking, smooth skin that was perfectly pale and blemish free. His beautiful, soft, sweet smelling chestnut hair was always styled in a perfect coiffe. Kurt had this perfect scent, it smelled like cologne and sexiness and love. He always dressed himself impeccably, and today had been no exception. Kurt had worn tight black pants, a printed button up shirt, a gray vest, a blue scarf that brought out his eyes, and black loafers. Blaine couldn’t keep his eyes off of him. He had never been able to.   
And at the end of Junior year, Blaine finally decided to man up and ask Kurt to go to prom with him. But of course, he had to do it the Glee club way, and sing him a song. He sat down at the piano and sang Teenage Dream for him. After, he asked Kurt if he would go to the prom with him. Kurt just laughed. He laughed and then he said “I’m sorry, but no.” And then he stalked out of the choir room. The dumbest part was that even then, Blaine had never stopped liking Kurt. Blaine couldn’t help but find Kurt this perfect angel, so beautiful and enchanting. He just didn’t understand! Kurt was nice to everyone else except for him! Even Santana and Kurt got along! What was it about him that Kurt didn’t like?   
And now Junior year was happening all over again. Blaine hadn’t even been able to get a proper sentence out before Kurt rejected him. He was going to have to marry Kurt. Blaine was secretly delighted and frustrated as hell. He was glad to get the chance to spend all this time with Kurt, but he knew Kurt would never feel that way about him. 

Back at the table, Kurt sighed in frustration. He could not believe his luck. Blaine Anderson! How dare they! What were they thinking?! Matching Kurt Hummel up with someone like Blaine Anderson. He was quite possibly the worst person to ever be matched with. Kurt had never liked Blaine, ever since he met him, when Blaine had transferred his Junior year. Everybody loved him automatically. If you asked anyone at McKinley about Blaine, they’d all tell you the same thing. He had “good looks, old-fashioned values, and a voice made of gold.” But Kurt could see through all that.   
Blaine had swooped in out of nowhere and took everything from Kurt. He won over the entire glee club instantly, and everyone loved him. The members of the glee club were Kurt’s only friends, and all of a sudden they were too busy fawning over the new kid to talk to him. Then, Mr. Schue proceeded to give all the solo’s to Blaine that year. So instead of Kurt having to fight against Rachel and Mercedes, he had to fight against Rachel, Mercedes, and Blaine.  
Blaine was the perfect child, the favorite child, and Kurt was that neglected kid in the corner that no one paid attention to anymore. Even his dad liked Blaine! Finn and Blaine became great friends, and Blaine was always coming over to the house and watching football games with Finn and his dad. Then his dad would go on and on about how great Blaine was, and Carol threw in a couple times how nice it would be if Blaine and Kurt went on a date! Then they could have a third son if they got married! Well, Carol was now getting her wish. So yes, basically Kurt hated Blaine out of jealousy. And as petty and childish as that was, it was the truth. And Kurt didn’t see how marriage was going to change those feelings. His phone buzzed.   
It was Rachel.   
So how’s it going?  
Awful, he just as annoying as he was in high school.   
Aww, come on Kurt. Did you even give him a chance?   
No, not really. I don’t have to to know that he’s exactly the same.   
Come on, Kurt. He’s going to be your husband. Your HUSBAND. At least hear him out, and try to get along. You could at least try and be friends. It would make the experience less miserable for the both of you.   
Kurt sighed. Why was Rachel always right about this kind of stuff?   
Fine. You’re right. I’ll give him a chance. 

Blaine returned to the table with the drinks. He had a cup in each hand, and on top of one cup, there was a tiny plate with a small piece of cake on top. He sat down and handed Kurt his cup.   
“I got a piece of their coconut cake for us to share. It’s really good here.” Damn, now Kurt felt like a jerk.   
“Oh, um, thank you.”   
“Of course.”  
“Listen,” Kurt cleared his throat, “I’m sorry, perhaps I was a bit, um, harsh earlier. I don’t mean to come across as so cold.” He said his next words slowly. “I would really like for us to try and be...friends? It would make this whole situation a little easier if we liked each other at least a little bit.”   
Blaine perked up at hearing this.   
“Listen, Kurt, I’m not here to ruin your life. I’m just as upset about this as you are.” That was a lie. “I am required to get married just like you are.” At least that was the truth. “And I don’t want you to cook me dinner or clean for me. And I don’t expect us to fall in love or anything.” But he could hope for it.  
“I just want us to be happy. For all I care, we can act like two roommates who just so happen to have signed a special piece of paper. I promise I won’t get in the way of your Broadway career. In fact, I’m really proud of what you’ve accomplished. I always thought you were a really good singer, and I always knew you would make it big someday. I would never dream of getting in the way of that.” Blaine looked Kurt in the eyes. “And I hope that we can be friends too.”   
Kurt didn’t know what to say. He blushed at the compliment. He had been so cold, and now Blaine was being so sweet and considerate. Maybe he was just as good of a person as everyone always said he was. No! Come on Hummel, remember the goal. Broadway! I don’t have time for relationships. Then Kurt remembered Rachel’s words. Come on Kurt, give him a chance, at least try and be friends. Kurt sighed. He could do that. He could be friends with Blaine. After all, they weren’t competing anymore. Kurt was on Broadway, Blaine was doing...whatever he did. Maybe they could get along when Blaine wasn’t trying to steal everything away from him.   
“Great!” Kurt said with mock enthusiasm. “So we can be friends. So, let’s talk and get to know each other a little better. After all, you are going to be my husband.” Kurt batted his eyelashes flirtatiously and lowered his voice when he said the last sentence. Blaine swallowed his coffee hard.  
“Right, husband.” Blaine reached down to one of Kurt’s hands and held it. Kurt didn’t move it or flinch or anything, so Blaine figured this was a good sign.   
“So, where are we going to live once we’re married?” Kurt asked.   
“Well,” Blaine said, “right now I live with Sam. He and Mercedes are going to take over the apartment once they get married.”   
“Right now I live with Rachel, but she’s moving in with Jesse in just a few months. You could move into the loft. It’s not to far from where you live now, right?”   
“Right, okay, that sounds good.”  
“You could just move into her room, so we could even have separate bedrooms,” said Kurt.   
“Oh, yeah, that’d probably be for the best.”   
“Blaine,” Kurt said looking at him intently, “we’re not having sex.”   
Blaine swallowed hard.   
“Yeah, I know.” This meant that Blaine was going to be a virgin for life. He had never had sex before, and once he was married to Kurt, he couldn’t have sex with anyone else. First, because he wasn’t the kind of person to cheat, even if it was an arranged marriage, but second, because it was also illegal. If you were found cheating on your spouse, and it was proven, you could get thrown in jail.   
“Great, just so we’re clear. And we can both do all of our own personal cooking, and I’ll make up a cleaning schedule.”   
“Uh, okay, I guess that sounds good.” Geez, Kurt was controlling.   
“Awesome,” Kurt said. “And as for the actual wedding, which we should probably have soon, like within the next three months, we can just go down to the courthouse and sign the papers. There’s no point in having a ceremony, seeing as this isn’t really real, and we can’t plan one in such a short amount of time anyways. And obviously we’re not going on a honeymoon since I can’t take the time off from work, and I’m assuming you can’t either.” Kurt narrowed his eyes.   
“What exactly is it that you do, again?”   
“Uh, well I was a music teacher, but recently I quit to be in my band. We just recorded our first single. Tina, Santana, and Sam are all in it too. That’s why we moved to New York. We were in Ohio before. Mercedes is our producer. The company she works for is our record label. That’s how we got discovered.”   
“Oh,” Kurt said. “I guess that sounds cool. I should probably hear you guys play sometime.”   
“Yeah, totally!” Blaine was getting excited. “We’re doing a show on Saturday night at this club. I can get you on the list, and you can come hear us!”   
“Well, let me check my schedule and see if I’m actually free on Saturday or not, but if I am, I’ll go. Just don’t get your hopes up too much.”   
“Okay,” Blaine said, keeping his excitement in check. “I can do that.”   
“Alright,” Kurt began to get up. “Well this has been great, thanks for meeting me…”   
“Wait!” Blaine shouts out.   
“What?” Kurt snaps frustratedly. What more could he possibly want? Kurt had been somewhat nice for at least the second part of their meeting, but now Blaine was just getting annoying again.   
“Well, I don’t have your number, for one. And also, I don’t know, do you wanna meet again, and at least talk once more before we get married?”   
“Like a date?”  
“Yeah, I guess so.”   
Kurt rolled his eyes. Did he have another option? He was gonna be marrying this guy. Might as well get used to his presence.   
“Okay, sure.”   
They exchanged phones and gave each other their numbers.   
“How about Saturday afternoon, before our concert, we go and have dinner somewhere?” Blaine asked.   
Kurt sighed. He really didn’t want to have dinner with Blaine. But what choice did he have? He was marrying him. He had to get to know him sometime or other.   
“Okay, sounds good.”   
“Great! Pick you up at five o'clock.”   
They headed their separate ways. On his way home, Kurt couldn’t help but think what a disaster this was going to be. Blaine couldn’t have been happier.


	3. The Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kurt and Blaine go on a date. Blaine hopes that he can woo Kurt.

Blaine nervously adjusted his bowtie in the mirror for the fifth time.  
“Dude, stop worrying already. I know that you’re, ya know, gay and all that, but that doesn’t mean you have to dress yourself for hours, ya know? That’s just a stereotype.”  
Blaine walked over to where Sam was playing video games on the couch.  
“I know, I’m just nervous. I mean, I told you what he said when we met for coffee. He was a total...I don’t know!”  
“Asshat?” Sam offered.  
“Well, I mean he wasn’t nice! And I sincerely tried, ya know! I want to make this marriage work. I want to have kids someday and stuff, and I don’t want them to have to come home to two bickering dads everyday. Is that too much to ask?”  
Sam didn’t even look up from the television.  
“In an arranged marriage, yes.”  
“Sam! You’re not helping me!”  
“I’m sorry man, what is it you wanted help with?”  
“With my outfit, Sam!” Blaine spun around a little. “Do I look okay? It doesn’t look like I tried to hard, does it?”  
“Ay ay ay, alright dwarf, you’re driving me insane.” Santana appears from the kitchen holding a bottle of water, swishing some water in her mouth. “You’ll be fine. I mean, he has to marry you no matter what, right? And let’s just face it, you’re never gonna match Kurt Hummel’s style.”  
“Santana,” Sam said in a warning voice.  
“What? Don’t get me wrong, I mean, I hate lady Hummel just as much as the next person, but let’s face it, he dresses for the runway everyday. And you dress like you came out of Pleasantville. So why don’t you just get your nice ass over to that apartment and fail already like we all know you’re going to?”  
“Dude!” Sam exclaimed, “why do you always have to be so rude! Blaine’s just trying to make a good impression.”  
“No, Sam. She’s right.” Santana gave Sam an ‘I told you so’ look.  
“I probably will fail, this time,” Blaine continued. “But I’m gonna win him over.”  
“Oh Blaine,” Sam sighed.  
“No, I promise, I am going to get Kurt Hummel to fall in love with me. Come what may, if there’s hell to pay. We’re going to be husbands, and he’s going to be happy about it. We both are. You just wait and see!”  
And with those words, Blaine ran out the door and skipped merrily down the hallway.  
Back in the apartment, Sam turned to Santana.  
“Kurt’s gonna eat him alive, isn’t he?”  
“Yep.” 

Kurt hesitantly answered the knock on the door. He wasn’t looking forward to this date with Blaine. I mean, sure, their coffee date the other day had gone slightly better than expected. But Blaine was still the annoying kid from glee club. Right?  
And he was also technically his fiance.  
Kurt sighed to himself and answered the door.  
“Hey there!” Blaine popped out from behind a bouquet of daffodils.  
“Oh, why hello!” Kurt replied, a little surprised by Blaine’s gesture.  
“I, uh, hope this isn’t too forward or anything.”  
“Uh, no, not at all. W-why don’t you come in?” Damn, had Blaine always looked that cute? Kurt used to think that his bowtie wearing habit was a little silly, but now it was almost endearing. Blaine’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts.  
“You should probably put these in some water.”  
“Right!” Come on, get a grip on yourself, Hummel. Kurt grabbed the flowers and picked a vase from under the cupboard to put them in. Blaine started walking around the loft.  
“So, this is our place, huh?”  
“Yeah, try not to break anything, alright?”  
Kurt knew he was purposefully being a little rude and standoffish tonight, but he couldn’t help it. He had major trust issues for one, and for two, Blaine still irked him, despite their coffee date from the other day.  
Blaine stops in front of the dark stained mahogany bookshelf tucked in the corner of the loft. It’s the only part of the apartment that can be considered messy. The shelves were overstuffed with every issue of Vogue since 1980, every possible book of Broadway sheet music, and biographies of every famous Broadway actor or actress, fashion icon, or quirky tv show host. Blaine chuckled when he saw the collection of books on Patti LuPone.  
“What’s so funny?” Kurt asked as he came up behind Blaine.  
“Oh, nothing.” Blaine turned around to look at Kurt. “I was just admiring your book collection.”  
Kurt narrows his eyes.  
“I see nothing wrong with reading about the people you aspire to be like.”  
“I never said there was anything wrong, Kurt.”  
“Oh, please, Blaine. I can tell when someone’s making fun of me.”  
“I wasn’t!...I swear I ju…”  
“Save it.” Kurt stomps off to the coat rack to grab his coat. “Come on, if we don’t leave soon we’ll be late for our reservation.”  
“W-we have a reservation?”  
Kurt scoffs.  
“Of course we have a reservation. You didn’t think I’d just take you to Pizza Hut or something, did you?”  
Blaine grabs his coat. The one he didn’t realize that he took off until now.  
“Uh, no, I j-just…”  
Kurt interjects dryly. “You know, I’m really getting tired of your st-stuttering and your little act that you have going on.”  
“Act? What act?”  
“That preppy school boy act you have- the one where you pretend to be so innocent and dapper. I know what you really are, Anderson. Now come on, let’s go.”  
Kurt took Blaine’s hand and dragged him out of the apartment. They enjoyed an angrily silent walk to the subway station. When Kurt got off at a very posh looking Italian place, Blaine couldn’t help but blush a little at the thought of Kurt actually trying for him.  
“Wow Kurt, this place looks really nice, a-and busy and stuff. How did you even get a reservation here? This must’ve been so much work.”  
“Oh, don’t flatter yourself. This is just as much for me as it is for you. And it wasn’t. I have a few friends in the culinary scene. They owed me one.” Kurt takes a hold of Blaine’s hand once again. Blaine feels tingles and a slight rush of excitement.  
“Come on, let’s go inside.”  
They started their dinner mostly in silence. Blaine tried to interrupt the awkwardness of the silence with a few interjections of stilted comments. The comments were supposed to be open ended, but Kurt never took the bait. Blaine observed that Kurt really only talked a lot when it was something that he wanted to talk about.  
“So, I was thinking about our names.”  
“What? What about them?” Kurt wasn’t even trying to sound interested. He didn’t look up from his plate when he responded.  
“Well, you know, people usually change them when they get married.”  
At this, Kurt looked up at Blaine, scowling and squinting deeply.  
“No.”  
“I didn’t say…”  
“No. Absolutely not. I am not changing my name for you. We barely know each other and I don’t like you, and I’m not changing my name just to follow some stupid old tradition that doesn’t even make sense anymore.”  
Blaine made sure to word his next sentences carefully, as to not make Kurt more upset.  
“Kurt, look, I don’t want you to be upset at me. I don’t want to get into a fight. I just want you to understand that I don’t care about that stuff either. I don’t want you to change your name. I don’t want to change my name. I just thought that we should talk about it.”  
“Well, we talked about it. Now we’re moving on.”  
Blaine sighed.  
“Okay.”  
This whole wooing thing was way harder than he thought it would be.  
“So, um, what do you do, you know, for a living?”  
Kurt was looking at his linguine and not at Blaine when he rolled his eyes, but Blaine could still see it from his seat across the small square table.  
“I work on Broadway. I actually just auditioned for a huge show. It’s about a gay lawyer who pretends to be straight.”  
“Oh my gosh! The one with the songs by Elton John! Yes, I’ve heard about that one! That show is gonna be amazing!”  
Kurt actually manages to drag his gaze from his food to meet Blaine’s eyes.  
“You’re really into that stuff? Broadway?”  
“OF COURSE! I totally would’ve gone into show business if I hadn’t started my band, you know? I love show tunes! And Broadway! I can’t believe you auditioned for that! You would make an amazing Elton John.”  
Kurt was a little speechless for a few seconds. He asked in a low voice.  
“You really think that?”  
Blaine realized how overeager he had gotten, and tried to backtrack a little.  
“Well, I mean, you are pretty talented. I think you could do it.”  
Kurt’s cheeks turned a lovely color of light pink, and his eyes went everywhere except for Blaine’s face. He spoke in what could almost be called a timid voice. Blaine had to struggle to hear it over the noise of the restaurant.  
“You know, you’re the only person so far who has said that. That I could actually get the part, that I could actually be good. Even Rachel, my own best friend, said she thought I wasn’t good enough, that I was too green for it.” Kurt looked up at Blaine, and Blaine saw that his eyes were a stunning blue, shining with unshed tears welling up at the corners.  
“Thank you,” he whispered.  
Blaine, without even hesitating to think twice, took one of Kurt’s hands gently and cupped it in both of his hands. He ran his fingers over the knuckles in a soothing, comforting way.  
He looked into Kurt’s eyes with serious concentration. His mother had once told him that you can tell people’s true emotions when you look into their eyes. When he looked into Kurt’s now, he saw determination, loneliness, and most surprisingly, fear.  
“Kurt, you don’t have to thank me for believing in you. You will never have to thank me, because I will always believe in you. And I’m not just saying this. I truly believe you are so talented, Kurt. I know that you are going to be amazing someday. Hell, you’re amazing now. But someday people are going to see how wonderful you really are. And I can’t wait for that day, because I’ll be there with you, holding your hand, saying ‘I told you so.’ I could never stop believing in you.”  
Kurt didn’t understand. He was confused. For so long Blaine had been his enemy. But why was he so kind now, so good and so caring? Why did it affect Kurt so much to hear Blaine say those things when he knew they were lies. Right? They had to be lies. Blaine was a liar. But Kurt wanted to believe those lies, because he hadn’t had anyone who believed in him for a really long time.  
Sure, he had people- teachers at NYADA, colleagues on other shows- who had told him that he was talented. But no one had ever believed in him as a person. And even though Kurt knew that Blaine didn’t mean that, at least not really, he let himself believe. He believed the lie.  
Kurt cleared his throat.  
“Well, um, thank you for saying all of those kind things. I-I’m sure I’ll have nice things to say too after I see your band perform.”  
“Yeah, let’s go.” Kurt paid for dinner, his treat this time, and they walked to the club together.

They got to the club with five minutes to spare before the band’s set began.  
“Well, this is a picture I never thought I’d see.” Blaine knew Santana was going to remark on his tardiness before he even walked in the door.  
“Blaine, late to a performance, because of a guy. But not just any guy. Because of Lady Porcelain, of all people. And Kurt, I’m surprised to see you with someone who doesn’t have a soul made out of the tears of children and unending sorrow.” Santana feigns shock as she puts on hand over her mouth. “Oh wait,that’s right. You’re only together because you’re forced to get married now. Ooh, sorry! Must suck to be saddled to someone you hate.”  
He was about to say something, but surprisingly it was Kurt who interjected first.  
“You know Santana, I would feel sorry for myself, but instead I feel sorry for you. If I recall correctly, didn’t Brittney break up with you, to date Sam? Oh, must have hurt to have your lesbian girlfriend to dump you, only to find out that she’s not actually a lesbian.”  
“Alright, you know what Hummel…”  
“Okay, come on guys. We’re here to play and have a good show tonight, okay?” Tina finally got up and said something when she couldn’t stand their bickering anymore.  
“You guys fight like old hags, it’s annoying alright? Plus, aren’t you two supposed to be friends now?”  
Santana spread her arms out in a gesture of exasperation.  
“We are friends now. This is how I treat my friends. Right Lady Hummel?”  
“It’s true, this is as good as it’s gonna get with Santana.”  
“Alright guys,” Sam comes in to the back room where they were and claps his hands.  
“Showtime! Who’s excited?”  
Kurt turns to Blaine.  
“Well, I’m gonna go take my seat.”  
“Okay.”  
“Hey,” Kurt says, looking deeply into Blaine’s eyes.  
“What?”  
“Good luck out there. I mean it. Break a leg.” With that he stalks out of the room. Blaine can’t help but feel the tingles he felt earlier returning.  
The show went really well. Blaine was so pleased. There was actually a very good turnout at the club, despite having almost no press. The crowd loved them. They gave them an encore. After the show, he found Kurt.  
“So, what did you think?”  
“Um... it was good. Really good.”  
Kurt was nodding his head in that slow, hesitant way that made Blaine unsure of whether he should believe him or not. Truth be told, Kurt was trying to hide how he was feeling. Their band had been really good. But seeing Blaine up there, performing and singing his heart out, well it gave Kurt a flood of emotions that he wouldn’t care to admit to anyone.  
They walked to the loft together. When Blaine was about to say goodnight, Kurt said something.  
“Hey Blaine.”  
“Yeah?”  
“Thanks for being so nice to me tonight. You didn’t have to be, and I just wanted to thank you. So thanks.” He gives Blaine a small smile, which Blaine graciously returns.  
“I’ll see you next week, Kurt.”


	4. The Wedding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kurt and Blaine get married!

Even though he knew it was ridiculous, Kurt was actually a little nervous. He was putting on his suit and Rachel was currently sitting on his bed, attempting to calm him down.   
“Oh, come on Kurt. You said it yourself. He’s not that bad anymore. I mean, you had a nice time with him last weekend.”   
“Yes Rachel, but this was a brief moment that we were able to somehow be civil to each other. What if it isn’t like that our whole marriage? I really don’t want to marry this guy.”   
Kurt began to pace back and forth between the walls of his small bedroom. He was half dressed in his wedding suit; he had on his pants, and his shirt was hanging open. He tilted his head up to the ceiling and placed his hands over his eyes.   
“Rachel!” he moaned. “What am I going to do? I mean, what if he wants… you know! tonight?!” Now Kurt was waving his hands around somewhat frantically.   
“Well, I mean, Kurt…” Rachel began, crossing her legs and folding her hands in true shrink fashion. “Technically, he’ll be your husband. He has the right to ask for it. But you can say no. I think that Blaine is gentlemanly enough to respect that. I mean, did you try talking to him about it?”   
“Yes! Well… kind of. I told him that I didn’t want to, ever. But I know, but we’re gonna have to do it eventually. Otherwise he’ll cheat on me, and then I’ll have to find someone else, and ugh!” Kurt stopped pacing. He spun around and flopped on the bed next to Rachel. His arms were spread out and his legs were hanging over the side.   
“Kurt, look I understand that you’re nervous. But you just have to suck it up and do this. It’s either get married or get put in jail. And Blaine is a decent guy, at least. I know that not everyone is as lucky as Jesse and I, but I think that in time you two could grow to be happy together.”   
“I don’t want to be happy, I just want to be single.”   
“Come on, Kurt. At least try! You can’t go into this marriage expecting it to be a failure. Yes, this entire situation sucks. But it’s happening regardless. And you can either go and be all moody and make Blaine hate you, or you could be a nice husband to him and at least make him happy. I mean, he’s been nice so far Kurt, the least you could do is try to make him happy for his troubles. You’re not the only one hurting from this arrangement.”   
“Fine, fine.” Kurt sits up. “I’ll try. I’ll be nice. When did you turn into such a Sally Sunshine anyway?”   
“Well, love changes people. Ever since Jesse and I got married…”  
“Oh, you mean all that time since last week?" Kurt interrupted.   
“Yes, and since we got married, I just feel so happy. Like, it’s nice to feel that you have the power to make someone else so happy, you know?”  
“Hmm, yeah, I guess I could see that being nice.”   
“It’s all in the little things, Kurt! Like compliments go a long way. Try complimenting Blaine on his outfit, or his hair sometimes. Or try making him his lunch every once in a while. Not all the time, just every so often. And you could try running him a hot bath if you know he’s had a hard day, or give him a shoulder massage. You just have to try, Kurt. I don’t want my best friend to be miserable!”  
“Okay, okay! I’ll try.” Kurt sits up and looks Rachel in the eyes. “I promise I will try to be nice to Blaine. I’ll do all the little nice things you said, at least for a little while. If it works, then maybe you’re right. Maybe this won’t be so bad after all.”   
Rachel smiles at him warmly and gives him a hug.   
“Good! So, are you gonna kiss him today at the ceremony?”   
“Crap! We didn’t even talk about that!” Kurt sighs. “Well, I guess there’s nothing wrong with a little peck.”   
“Exactly! See, that’s the spirit. Oh! Here, try some of this!” Rachel jumps off the bed and runs to the kitchen excitedly. Kurt follows in a much slower fashion, buttoning up his shirt while walking.   
“Drink a little of this. It’ll make it all better.”   
“Rachel,” Kurt says while looking at the bottle Rachel had pulled out of the cupboard in confusion. “Where did this wine even come from?”   
“I was saving it for a special occasion! And weddings are pretty special, right?! So,” she said, pouring him a small glass, “drink up! But just a little, we don’t want you to stumble in drunk. Just enough to take the edge off.” Kurt drink the small shot of wine.   
“I guess I should finished getting dressed. We have about ten minutes until we should go to the courthouse.”   
“Yes! Hurry, get dressed! Let’s go!” 

“Don’t worry Blaine, you have nothing to be nervous about! You look great! And we’re almost there.” Sam is driving him to the courthouse. In the end, Blaine had been able to talk Kurt into a small courthouse wedding, so at least some of their friends and family could be there. Blaine’s dad wasn’t coming, but his mom, his brother Cooper and his wife were. Sam and Santana were already with him. Tina couldn’t be there; she had to fly back to Lima to get married to Mike on the same day. Mercedes was gonna be there though, and a few of Kurt’s friends were also coming. Then they were all going to go to a somewhat fancy restaurant and have a nice meal together.   
“Yeah, and I’m sure lady Hummel will be there too. I mean, what better option does a sparkly elf have than a magical dwarf? You guys will be perfect together,” Santana said while waving around a bouquet in the air.  
“Santana, why do you have that bouquet? You’re not getting married until next month.” Blaine gave her a confused look.   
“Well, in case you hadn’t noticed, it just so happens to match the flowers you have pinned on your suit. And it’s for Kurt. I mean, obviously he’s the more feminine out of the two of you, and I still wanna catch the bouquet.”  
“But you already know you’re getting married next.”  
“Yeah, it’s really just for bragging rights over Berry. Come on, you know how much I love gloating. It’s practically my favorite pastime.”   
“Alright you guys,” Sam says as he pulls into a parking lot. “We are here. Are you ready Blaine?”   
Blaine sucks in a breath.   
“Yeah, I hope so.”   
Rachel and Kurt are walking up to the courthouse just as soon as Sam and Blaine get out of the car. Rachel waves to them, and Blaine starts to walk over to them. He gets a little tongue tied when he tries to say hello to Kurt, mainly because he can’t stop looking at him. Kurt is dressed impeccably, as always. He wore a fitted light grey suit, with a white shirt and a dark red tie. Blaine had worn a typical black suit and a red bow tie.   
“Hello, soon to be husband,” Kurt says.   
“Uh, h-hi.” Was that his heart that was beating so quickly? Kurt gave him a slight smile. He could tell Blaine was nervous.   
“Well,” he said, taking Blaine’s hand. “Ready to go in?”   
“Yeah, totally.”   
The ceremony was short. A few of their friends were there. Kurt’s dad and stepmom were there, and Blaine’s brother was there. They didn’t kiss at the end, and they didn’t exchange vows. But they had rings. Blaine figured that Kurt would probably like something like that, so he went out to the jewelry store and picked out two matching, plain silver bands. He had surprised Kurt with them during the ceremony, and Kurt had looked genuinely touched. He put it on without saying a word. Blaine took that to mean that Kurt liked them. And that was one step closer to Kurt liking him! Yes!   
After, they had an enjoyable dinner with all of their friends and family at a nice restaurant in downtown New York. It was a nice picture, seeing all of their family and friends together, laughing and having a good time. Santana was behaving, Rachel wasn’t being too much of a diva, Sam hadn’t said anything accidentally insensitive yet, and Kurt was actually being really nice to Blaine. He knew that it was silly, but he couldn’t help but think that it had meant something when Kurt had pulled Blaine’s chair out for him, or when Kurt had put his hand over Blaine’s hand and asked him “can you please pass the salt, honey”? Blaine could’ve sworn that he had caught Kurt staring at him more than a few times throughout the night.  
The night got the most interesting, however, after Cooper had had a few glasses of wine.   
“Hey squirts!” He directed his comments at Blaine and Kurt both. “So can I be expecting any nieces or nephews anytime soon? I mean, I know you’re gay, but there always adoption, right? Or surrogacy? How long do you think you’re going to wait before starting a family?”   
Blaine’s mouth drops open in shock. He had coached Cooper very well on the phone about what he was and was not allowed to talk about. Children was definitely on the “not approved” list. Apparently that didn’t matter once Cooper was drunk, though.   
“Yeah, Kurt!” Rachel said. “I want a godchild! I’d be the best godmother ever! I’d give your baby presents all the time, and the best present ever, of course, being my voice. I would totally sing them to sleep whenever I babysat, which I could do you know,” she leaned close to Kurt’s ear and whispered loudly, “whenever you and Blaine want some grown-up alone time.” Kurt turned bright red at this statement.   
“As if Berry!” Santana yelled in Rachel’s ear. “Everybody knows that Auntie Snix would be the best babysitter around. I’d teach that kid everything that they needed to know about getting through what would probably be like living in a constant sing-a-long.”   
“It would be nice to have some granbabies,” said Burt. He looked at Blaine. “Have you ever thought about it?”   
“Um, well…” Blaine stammered, “I don’t know, I mean it would be nice and stuff, but I-I think that Kurt is pretty busy with work right now a-”  
“What he means,” said Kurt, taking Blaine’s hand, “is that maybe not for a few years. We just want to take some time and get established first. You know, buy a house, have some steady work for awhile.”   
“So you want to have a child?” Blaine’s mom asked in delight.   
“I would actually love to, someday. Maybe even a few kids would be nice. Don’t you think so Blaine?” Kurt turned to Blaine with a loving smile.   
Wow, no wonder Kurt is on Broadway, Blaine thought to himself. If this is him acting, it’s on point. I’m not even sure if he’s faking or being serious.   
“Y-yeah, I think so. Kids would be nice.”   
“Excellent!” said Sam. “Man, this is so great! Seeing you guys finally together is so nice!” Sam suddenly stands up.   
“I would like to propose a toast,” he said, lifting up his wine glass.   
Oh no, thought Blaine, groaning inwardly.  
“This is for Kurt and Blaine. You know, who would’ve ever thought that you guys would’ve actually ended up together, after all this time! I mean, it’s been what, seven years since we graduated? And it’s so crazy, because I remember Blaine always telling me back then that he had this huge crush on Kurt!”   
“Sam!” Blaine said in shock.   
“Right! Don’t worry, I got your back buddy,” Sam said, pointing at Blaine. Kurt turned to look at Blaine, an amused smile on his lips.   
“So yeah, he would always tell me how hot he thought Kurt looked that day, or how much he wanted to ask Kurt out on a date. And then he asked Kurt to prom once during glee club by singing him that song. What was it Blaine, I can’t really remember.”   
“Oh my gosh,” Blaine groans, putting his head in his hands, clearly embarrassed.   
“Teenage Dream,” says Kurt.   
“That’s it!” exclaims Sam.   
“You actually remember that?” asks Blaine.   
“Of course, how could I forget? I wasn’t usually serenaded by tons of cute boys in high school.”   
Blaine couldn’t control how red his cheeks turned from the comment.   
“And even though Kurt acted like a total douche and turned him down, they still somehow managed to get together, and here we are. So, I would like to raise a toast.” Sam lifts up his glass ceremoniously, and a little violently, not caring about the droplets of wine that were falling down his wrist and onto his suit jacket.   
“To Blaine Anderson and Kurt Hummel! A long, loving marriage and years of happiness!”   
“Here here!” everyone else at the table shouted. They all tossed back their wine like it was water, and as if today were a burning summer’s day in Texas, as opposed to just the mild spring day that it was in Manhattan.   
After a couple more hours of jokes, laughter, and inappropriate comments, the group was fully inebriated, with the exception of Kurt and Blaine (because someone had to make sure everyone got home alright), and so they decided to call it a night. After Kurt and Blaine make sure that everyone got in a cab safely, with the correct addresses, they headed home together.   
“So, a huge crush, huh?”   
Crap, Blaine thinks to himself.   
“Uh, well, not a huge crush, I wouldn’t say huge per se. Maybe moderate or something, I mean, you know how Sam likes to exaggerate.”  
“Oh sure,” says Kurt, in a completely disbelieving tone. Blaine panics a little and starts talking really fast.   
“I mean, it’s not like I was obsessed with you or anything. I mean, sure, I might’ve sat behind you in French just so I could stare at your awesome hair and…”  
“Blaine, calm down. I was just teasing, alright?” Kurt laughs a little.   
“Oh, right,” says Blaine, breathing in and out a little better.   
They reach the loft in decent time. Stopping in the middle of the living room, they look into each other’s eyes for a moment, contemplating what to say next. Blaine is mostly afraid of saying something stupid or silly. Kurt just doesn’t want to come across as, how did Sam put it? Oh right, a total douche. Finally, it’s Blaine who interrupts the silence.   
“Can I ask you a question?”   
“Sure, we are married now. You’re supposed to know all of my secrets, right?”   
“Eh heh, right,” Blaine chuckles nervously. “Kurt, why did you hate me so much in high school? Why were so rude to me when we met the other day? And why were you being so nice today? I feel like you’re this big puzzle that I have to figure out.”   
“I don’t want to confuse you anymore, Blaine. I’ll tell you everything you want to know. But first,” Kurt led him over to one of the three overstuffed couches that adorned the loft. “Would you like some hot chocolate? It’s imported from France.”   
“Uh, yeah, sure I guess.”   
“Great!” Kurt bounced off to make the hot chocolate. When he came back, he sat down on the couch and set the two mugs on the coffee table in front of them. He was taking Rachel’s advice and trying to be as doting as possible, which was confusing the hell out of Blaine.   
“So, first things first. You wanted to know why I hated you so much, right?”   
“Yes, I do.”   
“Well,” Kurt sighed, “to be honest, I was jealous of you.”   
“Jealous? Of me?”   
“Of course Blaine! You just waltzed in Junior year, and you practically took over the entire glee club! Everybody loved you, and they all forgot about me. Even my own parents.” Kurt took a gulp of his chocolate and looked away. “Even Finn.”   
“Kurt, it wasn’t like that.”   
He had been trying to keep calm, but Kurt couldn’t help get a little emotional when Blaine said that. He stood up quickly. His voice was even, but his eyes showed more than enough anger to make up for it.  
“Oh, wasn’t it?! Because it was you he texted the night he died, not me Blaine. You and Rachel were the last people who got his final words. Not me, his own brother. He adored you, Blaine, but he didn’t love me. I was too gay or sparkly or some crap like that.”  
“Kurt,” Blaine begins.   
“Don’t.” Kurt started shouting. “How do you think I felt, Blaine? You took my family, my brother, you even stole my best friend away from me! Mercedes and I were so close, and then you swooped in and she ran to you the way little kids run to their parents when they’re being picked up from summer camp! I know it’s petty, and childish, but no one noticed me after you came, Blaine.”  
“I noticed you!” Blaine yells without thinking and stands up to look into Kurt's eyes. “Gosh! You always paint yourself as some kind of martyr. Oh, boo hoo, nobody noticed me anymore! Grow up Kurt! You’re right, your jealousy was childish, because I was never trying to take anything away from you. You really think I cared about solos in glee club? Or leads in the school musical? I only did that stuff so I could get close to you! But did you ever bother trying to get to know me? No! Your world has always been about you!”  
Kurt looks at him for a while, blue-green eyes piercing hazel.   
“You really did like me back then, didn’t you?” he asks in a much softer voice.   
“Well, I did ask you to prom,” Blaine says.   
“That’s right.”   
“You said no,” he said, the bitterness clearly evident in his voice.   
“I thought someone had put you up to it to make fun of me. Earlier that day some of the jocks had bribed a bunch of cheerleaders to ask me out, and then they filmed it and humiliated me with it for weeks.”   
“Oh,” said Blaine quietly. “I had no idea.”   
“I know, and the way I turned you down was rude.”  
“That still doesn’t explain why you were so mean when we met at the coffee shop.”   
“Come on Blaine, how would you have reacted? You were always my arch nemesis,” Kurt says a little overdramatically, “and now all of a sudden I was supposed to marry you? I’m still surprised at how my seemingly normal life somehow turned into a soap opera.”   
Blaine chuckles a little at the thought.  
“Look, I’m sorry. If I was being overly nice before, it’s because I was trying to make up for all that time I was awful to you, and because I honestly want this marriage to work. I don’t want to come home everyday, dreading hearing your voice, or worse, coordinating times so that we don’t see each other as much as possible. Even if we can just be friends, it’s better than loathing each other.”   
“You’re right.”   
“And you were right. I was selfish, and a narcissist. Still am, a little bit. But if I say I’ll try to get better, will you promise to forgive me a little for the way I acted before?”   
Blaine nods. “Yeah, I think I can do that.”   
“Okay, so let’s make a promise to each other. I will try to be as nice and non-jealous as possible, and you don’t have to worry about being nervous around me. Okay?”   
“Okay,” said Blaine, still a little nervous despite what Kurt just said.   
“Good.” Kurt leaned forward and took Blaine’s hand in his own. “Goodnight Blaine.” He got up and went to his room.   
“Goodnight Kurt,” he called after him. Blaine got off the couch and walked to his own room. Even though he was still very confused, he couldn’t help the way his stupid heart fluttered with emotion. And despite his best wishes, he knew what he would be dreaming about that night.


	5. Married Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kurt and Blaine's first day of being married together. Also, we find out a little more about why Kurt used to hate Blaine so much.

At first, Blaine thinks he is dreaming, and in his dream he is waking up the next morning to the smell of lemons and baked goods. For a minutes he’s at his grandmother’s house.  
Nonna! My favorite! Pancakes with lemons and cream on top! How did you remember? I love you so much nonna!  
Then, he hears the light, sweet voice that was lilting over the lyrics of “Anything Goes.”  
No, I’m not dreaming. I’m awake, and this is actually a living nightmare. For a moment he almost forgot that he was married to Kurt. Even though he’d much rather stay in bed reading his copy of Audrey Hepburn’s biography, and just wait for Kurt to run off to work or Rachel’s or wherever, he knew that he should at least get up and say good morning. He threw back the covers and got up, wincing a little when the blankets were gone and the cold morning New York air hit him. He had slept with the windows open last night.  
Blaine ran to shut them, and then began to rummage through his suitcases to find something to wear. Rachel had moved out last week, so Blaine had been able to start moving in his stuff before the wedding, but he hadn’t gotten to unpacking. He threw on something comfortable, yet stylish. He was still trying to woo Kurt, after all. So after dusting off his gray jeans and straightening his yellow bow tie, he wandered out into the kitchen.  
“So I wasn’t dreaming when I smelled lemon pancakes.” Blaine is surprised to see Kurt cooking; he hadn’t pegged him as the domestic type.  
“Nope, you weren’t!” Kurt turns around from where he’s standing at the stove. Okay, he looked pretty adorable, with his socked feet and his checkered apron, face dotted by smears of pancake batter.  
“I-I figured I’d make you pancakes, you know, to apologize for the way I treated you last night.”  
“Oh, well you didn’t have to do that,” begins Blaine.  
“No, I did,” Kurt says. “We were having a really good day, and I ruined it. So I made some apology pancakes.” he exclaims as he takes the last one from the pan and flips it onto a nearby plate.  
“So, sit down,” Kurt says, pushing Blaine towards one of the vintage chairs in their kitchen, “and enjoy.”  
Blaine hadn’t even noticed that the dining table had been all set up. There were two white little plates set next to each other; light grey linen napkins were folded in triangles and set on top. Next to the plate a fork, spoon, and knife set lay delicately awaiting use, There were two glasses on the table, and a pitcher of what looked like fresh orange juice.  
“I thought maybe we could eat together. Is that okay?” Kurt asks Blaine as he brings over the plate of pancakes, along with a small bowl of blueberries and another filled with cream.  
“Yeah, I guess. Don’t you have to go to the theater today though?” Blaine had heard through Rachel that Kurt had actually gotten the lead for that ‘gay lawyer musical’, as she had put it.  
“I do, but not until ten,” he says, sitting down. Blaine looked at the large, ridiculously overly modern wall clock that was hanging near the kitchen. The clock was all white, and there were no numbers on the face. There were only two tick marks at nine o’ clock. Reading took a bit of deciphering, but Blaine finally concluded that it was 8 in the morning.  
8 am? Why did I get up so early again? Oh right, the nightmare.  
Before Blaine dreamt about his grandmother’s pancakes, he was dreaming about himself and Kurt. It wasn’t in the future, it was actually in the past. The dream took place when Kurt and Blaine were still in high school. In his dream, Kurt and Blaine had met at Dalton, and Kurt had instantly fallen in love with him. Definitely a dream, thought Blaine. Eventually they started dating, and Blaine transferred to McKinley because of Kurt, instead of the actual reason of not wanting to make his family go broke.  
They dated for awhile, and then they broke up because Blaine had cheated on Kurt. Then they got engaged after Kurt had forgiven him, but after awhile, Kurt got sick of him, and dumped him again. Then, in a most frighteningly strange turn of events, Blaine had started dating Dave Karofsky, of all people, and Kurt started going out with… his grandpa? No, not that weird. Just somebody’s grandpa. And that’s how Blaine lived the rest of his life, together with Dave. And for whatever reason, in his dream, he was invited to officiate the wedding between Kurt and that elderly man, and it was in a barn?  
Thank goodness that was just a dream, thought Blaine in relief.  
“So, I was thinking,” Kurt says, serving himself, “that maybe it would be fun, and by fun I mean not cringingly awful, if you and I went to Ikea or something and had you pick out some furniture. I mean, it would be better if we did something to this place to make it feel more like ours instead of just mine. And besides, Rachel took all of her stuff to Jesse’s, and it kind of feels a little empty in here.”  
“Uh, yeah, that’d be fun. Can we replace that clock?” he asks, pointing to the offending time piece.  
Kurt gasps.  
“You wanna replace Rocco?”  
“Rocco?”  
“The clock, Blaine. Rocco is his name.”  
“Okay, well then yes. I would like to replace… Rocco.”  
“You know what, fine. Marriage is about compromise. We can pick a new clock together. But only if I get to help you replace all of your hair products.”  
“What’s wrong with my hair products?” Blaine asks, clearly deeply offended.  
“Blaine, honey, you put so much hair gel in your hair, I’m surprised that they even require you to wear a helmet when you go bicycling, your hair is so hard. Now, I know some great products that will let your hair look more natural.  
“Okay, anything to get rid of that giant piece of white paper hanging in the kitchen.”  
Kurt flings a blueberry at Blaine’s face.  
Blaine is a little surprised.  
“Kurt, I don’t know if you want to start this.”  
“Start what?” he asks, stuffing his mouth with pancake. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, I’m just eating over here.”  
Blaine daringly swipes some of the whip cream on his finger and draws a line on Kurt’s cheek. Blaine gives the brunnette a smug smile. Kurt looks at him with a very serious glare on his face.  
“You didn’t.”  
“Oh I did.”  
“You’re going to regret that Anderson.”  
“Hey Kurt, serious question here. Do you name all of your furniture?”  
“Stupid question Blaine. Of course I name all of my furniture. Just like I know how you name all of your bowties.”  
Blaine laughs. “I’m not even going to deny it.”  
“And why should you? We’re millennials, and this is America. We can be as childish and immature as we want until we’re at least 50.”  
Blaine begins to sing God Bless America in an obnoxious southern accent, which sends Kurt into a fit of giggles. They continue eating their breakfast over small talk and banter for the rest of the hour. Then Kurt declares that he has to get ready, and so does Blaine. Kurt leaves for the theater, and Blaine heads off to the studio to see if he can’t get some songwriting inspiration. 

 

So, despite having a wonderful breakfast with Blaine, he had left home a little earlier than he needed to. It was his first day of rehearsals, and Rachel wanted to celebrate with him by having a good luck coffee together. They go to a small coffee shop that’s close to both the theaters they work at. They pick a small table in the corner and talk.  
“I’m on my way to my first day of rehearsals! Can you believe it?” Kurt exclaims.  
“Of course I can Kurt. I knew your day was gonna come. Albeit, slightly later after mine, but it still came after all.” She says this in a superior tone.  
“Oh, shut up. I know that underneath all that signature Rachel Berry cockiness is just love for me.”  
“I do love you Kurt. You’re my best friend, and I wish you nothing but good luck at your first day of rehearsals. But, speaking of love…”  
“I knew you were going to take it there? Shouldn't you be too hungover to even have a functioning conversation about relationships this early in the morning?”  
“Oh Kurt, being hungover is for immature college students. Besides, Alejandro, my personal Tahitian health physician, gave me this miracle-working hangover cure that’ll make you feel even better than getting drunk.”  
“So why don’t you just drink that instead of alcohol?”  
Rachel laughs. It’s a high pitched, little mocking laugh that always drives Kurt absolutely insane.  
“See Kurt, this is what I love about you. You’re mature enough to be tolerable to hang around, but innocent enough still to ask all those silly questions. Also, you didn’t answer my question.”  
“No, you didn’t ask a question.”  
“Ugh! Fine, Kurt, how are things with Blaine?”  
Kurt takes a deep breath before answering.  
“Well, last night, we walked back to the apartment, and it was actually going really well until I screwed it up and started a fight.”  
“Smooth.”  
“But then, oh, you’ll be proud of me for this one. I made him apology pancakes.”  
Rachel cooed.  
“Aww! Kurt! Okay, first of all, that’s so sweet. And second of all, how are apology pancakes different than regular pancakes?”  
“Well, you know, it’s the feeling you put into it while you’re making them. And yeah, I’m trying to take your advice and stuff. And it worked, surprisingly.”  
“I don’t know why you’re surprised. I mean it is my advice after all.”  
Kurt sighs again.  
“Rachel…”  
“But, I’m happy to hear that things are finally working out between the two of you. Are you falling in love with him yet?” She says the particular phrase in a sing-songy tone.  
“No, definitely not that. But I think I can do this though, this whole marriage thing. I mean, besides that one slip up, for the past 24 hours, I’ve been perfectly civil to him.”  
“Well that’s quite a record for you Kurt. But can I ask you something?”  
“If I said no, would it matter anyways?”  
“Good point,” she said. “I just never really understood why you hated the guy so much anyways. I mean, yeah, I get the whole jealousy thing. I was jealous of Santana and Quinn for forever. And I get the whole Blaine taking every solo and all your friends away from you and stuff. Like, come on, story of my life. But how was what he did any worse than what Mercedes or I did to you? I mean, we stole solos from you too. And it’s not like people hated you Kurt, they just loved Blaine a little more. Even I liked him more for awhile.”  
“It honestly was just the jealousy thing, Rachel.”  
“Nope! I can’t accept that. There has to be more to this story that you’re not telling me.”  
Kurt sighs heavily again. He closes his eyes as he sips his hot coffee, doing so carefully to try and avoid burning his tongue.  
“Okay, so as much as everyone likes to forget this, Blaine and I were actually friends for the first few months of Junior year, when he first transferred.”  
“Right, I remember that. It’s probably just overshadowed in most people’s minds by how much you hated him afterwards.”  
Kurt sighed.  
“Right, anyways, I was actually his first friend. I was the one who saw him in the hall signing up for glee club and invited him to sit down next to me in the choir room that day. And we were friends for at least a few weeks. This was before everyone else fell in love with him.”  
“Right.”  
“Well, I guess some guys on the football team saw him and I hanging out, and putting two and two together, realized Blaine was also gay. So one day, I was walking past the locker rooms and I heard yelling. I busted through the door, only to find Karofsky and Blaine. No one else was around, and Dave was punching the crap out of him.”  
“Oh my gosh, I didn’t know Blaine got beat up!”  
“He did, but just that once. And I felt so bad for him, I stepped in.”  
“You stepped in?”  
“Yes. I ran between them, attempted to pull Karofsky off of Blaine, and told him to leave Blaine the hell alone.”  
“No way! Kurt! No wonder why he in love with you! You were his hero!”  
“Huh, right. Anywho, Dave turns around and starts beating the crap out of me instead of Blaine. Blaine just runs away and leaves me there with him.”  
“Wait, is this the time you didn’t go to school for a week?”  
“Yep, this is exactly that time.”  
“Kurt! Oh my gosh! You said you fell down a flight of stairs after practicing walking in your Lady Gaga heels! I didn’t know you got beat up that badly!”  
“I didn’t want to talk about it. I didn’t want people to feel sorry for me. And especially not after the way Blaine acted. For a while, he pretended like it didn’t happen. I tried to talk to him about it the next day, and he flat out ignored me. He stopped sitting next to me. That’s when he started getting all buddy-buddy with Tina and Sam. And then, he got on the football team, and he was best friends with all the guys who had so much fun beating me up everyday.”  
“I remember that, I remember him sitting with Karofsky and all those guys at lunch.”  
“Exactly.”  
“Kurt, I’m so sorry. I had no idea.”  
“I know, I never told anyone. Mainly because I didn’t really understand. He had been so nice for awhile, and then he was such a jerk. But only to me, and only those three times.”  
“Three times?”  
“Oh right, well a couple weeks later, in the locker rooms, I was caught by the bullies again. There was Karofsky, Azimio, and Rick. Azimio was holding me back. Karofsky was punching me, and Rick was videoing it. Then Blaine walks in. I was so happy because, despite what he had said, I thought that maybe he would come through for me the way I did for him.”  
Kurt closes his eyes and struggles to finish the memory.  
“But, apparently Blaine had to go through some initiation thing. So Karofsky told him that he had to punch me.”  
“He didn’t!” Rachel gasps.  
“No, you’re right. He didn’t hit me. But he did push me. I hit my head on one of those stupid benches and had a lump on my head for days.”  
Kurt laughs weakly.  
“He found me a couple days later in one of the hallways. He apologized profusely, said that he was just trying to fit in, and not get tormented like he did when he was at public school before. He said he was sorry for acting like a douche.”  
“And what did you say then?”  
“What could I say Rachel? I told him that I hated him, that I thought he was a coward. But nevertheless, I forgave him.”  
“Seriously?”  
“Yes, seriously. I told him that we should put all of it behind us and just forget about it. He kept apologizing for the rest of the semester, but I told him one day to stop apologizing. That no amount of apologizing was going to fix what went on. So after that day, we both pretended like it never happened. I honestly thought I had let it go, that I’d gotten past all of that. I even forgave Dave and Azimio after they stopped beating me up.”  
“Kurt! I can’t believe you never told anyone about this! How could you just go on like it never happened?  
“Because I realized, afterwards, why it had hurt so much. The root of why I hated him. It was because I was jealous, but more than that, it was because I liked him. Before Blaine even liked me, I had a crush on him. And then when those things happened, it just felt like rejection. I just wanted to forget, I was so embarrassed, so I told him I forgave him and that we should never talk about it again.”  
“But Kurt! You have to talk to him about it!”  
“What is there to talk about? We went over it all those years ago, and it was over. And I think that for whatever reason, when it comes to Blaine, this admittedly attractive, old fashioned stylish, overly positive, sometimes annoying man who is now my husband, I can’t seem to get over what happened in our past. I just want to forget about all of that stuff. That was high school, which was ages ago. And to be honest, I’m so sick of being that guy who can’t get over the past.”  
“Kurt, you know I’m only saying this because I’m your friend. I’m really worried about you. I mean, two weeks ago, you hated the idea of marrying this guy. Hell, yesterday you hated the idea of marrying this guy. Now you’re all ‘let it go’ and ‘let’s forget it ever happened!’ This isn’t the Kurt I know.”  
“Fine, you want to know the real reason, Rachel? This morning, when I dragged myself out of bed at six to make stupid lemon flavored apology pancakes and whipped cream-”  
Rachel gasped.  
“You had lemon pancakes without me? Kurt, that was our thing!”  
“Rachel…”  
“Oh, sorry. Go on.”  
“Anyways, when I was doing that, at first I was still kind of pissed off. I was thinking about our argument, and I was mad. Then Blaine came out of his bedroom, and at first I was faking it. I pretended to be happy. But then, after awhile, I didn’t have to pretend anymore. We were talking and laughing, and as soon as I let myself forget about all the stupid stuff that happened between us before, I was genuinely really happy. Happier than I’ve been in awhile. And I want to keep things that way.”  
Rachel sighs. “Alright Kurt, if you are genuinely happy this way, I will let you be. But if Blaine hits you, I will file a domestic violence case.”  
“I can always count on you to have my back. Anyways, I should get going now, don’t wanna be late on the first day.  
“Okay. Bye Kurt! Love you! Good luck!”  
“Thank you. Love you too Rachel.”  
Kurt walks the short distance to his theater. He had told Rachel the truth. Well, at least most of it. Was he falling in love with Blaine again? He couldn’t, not after a week. Right? It was like, physically impossible, or something. Kurt rolls his eyes in spite of himself while he changes for rehearsal. He was starting to act almost as ridiculously as Blaine did all of the time. 

 

As it turned out, walking through the busy streets of NYC with three overflowing brown paper grocery bags in his arms was not Blaine’s best idea. He couldn’t really see where he was going, and he was pretty sure that he had stepped on more than one cat’s tail. But he was in a hurry. He wanted to get home before Kurt did. He figured that since Kurt had been so nice as to make them both breakfast that morning, he was going to make them dinner. So after leaving the studio that afternoon, he had stopped by the grocery store to pick up everything he needed to make pesto ravioli and chicken.  
He barely managed to open the stubborn, creaky door to their apartment without dropping everything in his hands. Blaine breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Kurt hadn’t gotten home yet. He began to cook, breathing in deeply. He wasn’t sure how he and Kurt were going to manage having two cooks in one house, but they’d have to figure it out. He loved making pasta, rolling the dough, cutting out the shapes, mixing the sauce by hand. But he also couldn’t live without Kurt’s awesome lemon pancakes.  
Blaine was just about done with everything when he heard the front door open. Kurt took a few steps inside. He was instantly mesmerized by the smell of good food. When he reaches the kitchen, Blaine turns around with a big smile on his face. He can tell by Kurt’s expression that he’s surprised.  
“Hey!” Blaine says, opening his arms in a friendly, welcoming gesture. Kurt drops his bag and runs straight into them. He wraps his arms around Blaine’s shoulders and buries his face in his husband’s neck.  
“Oh!” Blaine says, taken aback. He hadn’t meant the gesture as a hug per se, but who was he to argue? He loved hugs just as much as the next person. Besides, he had heard somewhere that it was scientifically proven you needed at least eight hugs a day to stay happy. And if that was the case, he was way behind on his hug quota. Besides, Kurt looked like he needed this.  
While Blaine was thinking all of this, Kurt was wrapped up in his own thoughts. His inner voice was arguing with him, and it was insanely conflicting.  
Man, this feels so nice.  
Kurt, what are you doing right now?! I thought you were going to take things slow!  
I am! Is a hug not slow enough?  
NO! Detach, Kurt. DETACH.  
Ugh, but why? He’s so warm, and he smells like pasta!  
Kurt, what kind of messages are you giving this guy? Rachel was right, you are going crazy. 24 hours ago, you were yelling at this guy. Now you’re snuggling up to him?  
Judge away, inner voice. I feel no shame.  
No, but you do feel the lack of oxygen in your body, right Kurt? Pull away man. YOU. NEED. TO. BREATHE.  
Do you remember the last time I even got hugged, inner voice? It was by Artie’s grandma at his film debut, and she was short and smelled like peppermint and licorice and she pinched my buns with her nana hands. Do you want me to have a pathetic hug life, inner voice? Because that’s where my life is going.  
Can’t. Breathe. GASP! Dying! Neck asphyxiation!  
Kurt finally pulled back when he indeed started feeling that he couldn’t breathe anymore. Okay, so maybe the twelve hours of intense rehearsals had messed with his mind a little bit. Usually, he didn’t throw himself at men, (even if they were his husband) or have arguments with his inner voice about hugging. Kurt finally dared himself to look Blaine in the eyes. He feared shock, or worse, rejection, but Blaine was actually smiling at him, and his eyes were warm and friendly.  
“So,” Blaine says, breaking the silence. “That was… nice. Did you have a rough day or something?”  
“Yeah, you could say that,” Kurt said in response.  
“Well,” Blaine says stepping back. “I made dinner! One hundred percent homemade ravioli topped with pesto sauce, served with a side of grilled chicken breast and asparagus. Shall I get you a plate?”  
“That sounds amazing,” Kurt said. Blaine fixed them both plates while Kurt set the table. When they sat down, Blaine tried to ask as many questions as he could to determine how Kurt’s day went without being annoying.  
“So, tell me about rehearsals.”  
“Oh, well, they were pretty intense.”  
“Really? On the first day?”  
“Yeah, the director and the choreographer wanted to see how far they could push us before we broke. Most of the chorus line ended up crying by the time rehearsals were over. One girl sprained her ankle, and someone else ripped their pants while they were dancing.”  
“Really? That’s awful.”  
“Yeah, it was. I just fell a little exhausted. But I think I’m fine, really,” Kurt says while spearing a piece of asparagus. “This food is really good, Blaine.”  
“Well thank you. The pesto is my nonna’s secret recipe.”  
“That’s so sweet. You know,” Kurt says, and then he pauses. “I don’t really know too much about you. You said nonna, is your family Italian?”  
“Just on my mother’s side. My grandparents and mom immigrated to Ohio, of all places, when my mom was eight. But we still go and visit Florence all the time.”  
“Oh wow, that’s really cool Blaine.”  
“Yeah? My grandma apologized for not being able to come to the wedding. She wanted to be there for it.”  
Kurt felt a twinge of guilt. He felt he had been so rude to Blaine, but he had forgotten that Blaine also had a family who cared about him. A family who would probably be very sad when they heard his husband was a pathological jerk.  
“You’re not a pathological jerk, Kurt.”  
“Wait, did I say that out loud?”  
Blaine chuckled. “Yeah, you did.” He reaches across the table to grab Kurt’s hand.  
Here we go again with this move. How am I supposed to combat this? It’s such a cute affectionate gesture! Inner voice! Where are you now?  
“Kurt,” Blaine said, snapping him out of his daze.  
“What?”  
“Well it’s just that…”  
“Blaine, spit it out already.”  
“Okay, fine. Rachel called me earlier today.”  
“Oh did she?” Kurt asked, remembering his conversation with her from earlier in the day. He knew that he never had to worry, that Rachel would keep all of his secrets until she died, but then again, she did only seem to keep secrets that she deemed worthy of keeping.  
“She asked if you and I wanted to go on a double date!”  
Well, Kurt definitely hadn’t been expecting that.  
“I’m sorry, what?”  
“A double date, with her and Jesse!”  
“Oh,” Kurt said. “And you think this is a good idea?”  
“Yeah! Why not?”  
“Okay,” Kurt sighs. “I’m willing to give this a shot if you are. When did they want to go out?”  
“Rachel said this Friday, for dinner.”  
“Well, let’s do it then!” Kurt exclaims, cutting the last few pieces of ravioli into bite size chunks.  
“Great! I’ll call her and confirm. But um, I was thinking, maybe after we finished eating, we could…”  
Kurt’s head snaps up. And the nerves are back.  
“Uh… yeah?” he asks quite illiterately, and takes a hard swallow of his water.  
“Well, I was thinking this might be something nice to do after dinner, to you know, wind down before we go to sleep. I mean, I know we didn’t talk about it a lot, and I hope I’m not overstepping by asking or anything…”  
Oh my… it’s happening. He’s asking. He’s gonna ask for sex. What do I do?! Crap! Inner voice! Help me!  
Sorry, you’re on your own on this one kid.  
“...and those are three good reasons why I think that it’s a good idea.”  
“Wait, what?”  
Did he just give me a mini persuasive argument on why should have sex? And did I just miss the whole thing? How long was I in inner thought mode?  
“...it’s just something that my nonna taught me when I was little. If you’re not sure if something you want to do is the right decision, just give yourself three good reasons why it’s a smart idea. If you can’t come up with three, then don’t do it. But if you can, then it’s a green light! Full speed ahead.”  
Gosh, I have got to stop zoning out and pay attention more.  
“Right, that sounds really interesting. Uh…” Kurt was about to make up some excuse, but then he figured that being honest was better than lying to his husband.  
“I didn’t really hear what you said, I kind of… zoned out for a second. What did you want to do?”  
“Watch American Idol with you!”  
“Wait, that show’s still going on?”  
“Of course! They can’t cancel it, the nostalgia factor is too high now. Anyways, my three good reasons were that, one, we both like to sing.”  
“Okay.”  
“Two, it’s fun watching other people sing, even if they’re doing it badly.”  
“I guess I can kind of agree there.”  
“And three, you and I can wonder in amazement together at how Ryan Seacrest is the only person who has stayed for the entire length of the show.”  
“Hmm… okay, you’re right. How about this. Let’s do the dishes, then I’ll go take a quick shower, just to get rid of the smell of failure and tears. Then we can watch American Idol together. But we have to start at the auditions.”  
Blaine throws his hands up in surrender. “Alright! Auditions it is!”  
They do the dishes together, and everything is peaceful for a remainder of five minutes, until a watery, soapy bubble fight breaks out between the two of them. After cleaning the dishes, Kurt and Blaine both go and take separate showers. Then they watch cringe-worthy auditions of American Idol together, laughing and taking turns imitating Ryan Seacrest and the other judges. Eventually, they both fall asleep on the couch. Blaine wakes up a few hours later, only to see Kurt asleep on his shoulder. He turns off the television, pulls a thick blanket over the two of them, wraps his arms around his husband, and promptly goes back to sleep.


	6. Double Date Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kurt and Blaine go on a double date with Rachel and Jesse. Cute fluff and banter abound.

It was six o’clock on a Friday evening. Kurt and Blaine were too busy getting dressed to notice the knocks on the door. Well, more like Kurt was too busy dressing Blaine, and Blaine was too busy trying to keep Kurt from making him look ridiculous to notice the knocks on the door.  
“Blaine, hold still!”  
“How can I hold still when you’re attacking my hair with that, that… thing! That monstrosity!”  
“It’s not a thing, Blaine! It’s called a hairdryer, Blaine.”  
“I don’t believe you! It spits fire! It must be a dragon.”  
“It’s not fire, it’s just heat. It blows heat to dry your hair. Hence the name, hair dryer.”  
“Kurt, I already let you put that leave-in conditioner and styling cream in my hair. You combed it, and you cut like two inches off the sides. Haven’t I suffered enough?”  
“Blaine, we live in New York City. It’s spring, and it’s fifty degrees outside. If you walk out there like that, you’ll get sick.”  
“Oh, that’s just an old wives tale.”  
Kurt sighed in frustration.  
“You owe me this! We replaced Rocco!”  
“Yeah, for the better!”  
“Really? Because an ancient, rusty clock that’s basically falling apart and probably gave me tetanus as soon as I touched it is better than my Jonathan Adler original?”  
Blaine sighs. “You know what, Kurt? Fine, you win. Blow me away.”  
Kurt rolls his eyes, shakes his head and chuckles a little, then goes back to drying Blaine’s hair. Blaine won’t deny that he kind of likes Kurt taking care of him so much. Kurt had picked out their outfits. They were complementary, not matching, because according to Kurt “matching outfits are tacky unless your five.”  
Finally Kurt was finished, and when Blaine looked in the mirror, he couldn’t argue with the results.  
“Wow, Kurt. While I don’t necessarily agree with you torturous methods,” he says while Kurt rolls his eyes again, “I will say that you did a good job. My hair actually looks good right now.”  
“Damn straight! And now it actually feels like hair, as opposed to a rock that’s been brought up from the bottom of the sea, pressurized by tons of water.”  
“I can always count on my husband to make me feel special, can’t I?”  
“Oh, you don’t need me to make you feel special. I think you know how special you are without me telling you,” Kurt says as they walked out from the bathroom to the living room, finally ready after what felt like hours to Blaine. Kurt looks at the clock.  
“Oh! It’s already six! I wonder where Rachel and Jesse are?”  
Then they heard a pounding on the door.  
“Kurt Hummel and Blaine Anderson! Open this damn door immediately!” they could heard Rachel shrieking outside their apartment. Kurt looked at Blaine with a panicked look.  
“Oh God,” he said, and ran to open the door.  
“Honey, calm down, or you’ll hurt your voice,” they could hear Jesse say.  
“I don’t care! I have been knocking for the past ten minutes! If you don’t get your sorry asses to this door right now, I swear to Barbra Streisand herself that I will-!”  
Kurt swings the door open wide, revealing a seething Rachel and a frightened Jesse.  
“Oh,” Rachel says, regaining her composure and smoothing out her dress. “Well, it’s about time.”  
He let them both inside. Blaine comes up and gives them both hugs. Apparently Kurt isn’t the only one who can’t resist a Blaine hug.  
“Sorry about that,” Kurt says. “I was just trying to tame the beast known as Blaine’s mane of hair.”  
“Oh!” Rachel says, taking a step back to get a good look at Blaine’s tamed curls. “Well it does look a lot better then his helmet of gel.”  
“Hey!” Blaine says.  
“Right!” Kurt exclaims at the same time.  
Jesse pats him in the back. “Good job, Kurt. I knew it could be done, I just figured the right man had to come along.”  
Blaine rolls his eyes. “Oh my goodness.”  
“Well, what are we waiting for? If we keep dallying we’ll lose our reservation at the restaurant,” Rachel chastises. “Come on, let’s go!”  
They walk out of the semi-modern, semi-new (if you consider the 80’s new) apartment complex and catch a taxi to the other side of town. Jesse pulled some strings and reserved dinner for them at a fancy, four star, new up and coming thai fusion restaurant that all the critics were raving about.  
“Whoa, what a cool place!” Blaine exclaimed as they walked in. There was a giant stone water fountain in the middle of the restaurant, and traditional Thai decorations throughout the whole place. They were seated at a table by a waiter named Susie. She was a perky woman who looked to be in her mid-twenties, and had a thick African accent. She complimented Kurt and Blaine on their outfits, and then took their orders for drinks. By the time she returned with them, Jesse had already launched into a lengthy (but quite funny) story about how he had recently found out about Rachel’s previously secret obsession with the Barney theme song.  
“No way!” Kurt exclaimed. “How did I not find out about this when we were living together, Rach?”  
“Because I only sing it when I’m positive that no one is around,” Rachel grumbled.  
“Except I caught her this time!” Jesse said. “So, she was going to do yoga, right? And I was just about to leave to go to work at the theater. But, I forgot my script. Normally, I could just ask for another one, of course, but this had all my notes and highlights in it, and my good luck essence on it.”  
“Good luck essence?” asks Blaine.  
“Of course,” says Jesse. “Since I spent so long holding it, the script absorbed my escence, which basically infused it with good luck.”  
“Naturally,” Kurt says, with an imperceptible sarcastic tone in his voice. Well, imperceptible to Jesse, at least, who continues with his story.  
“So I come back to the apartment, and there I see Rachel, my amazing wife, dancing to “I love you, you love me” which is playing on the television!”  
Kurt, Blaine and Jesse laugh, while Rachel glares at all of them.  
“Ha ha guys. Very funny, so hilarious.”  
“Oh, come on sweetie,” Jesse says to her in a saccharine soaked voice. “Don’t take it so hard. I’m sure there will be plenty of chances later tonight to embarrass me.”  
“You’re right,” she says. “And believe me when I tell you I will be taking advantage of every single one of them.”  
Everyone laughs again, and they enjoy an easy conversation over their food. Blaine’s over earnestness and Kurt’s searing sarcasm and wit balance out Jesse’s and Rachel’s over inflated egos, so it’s a particularly good match. All goes well until Jesse spills a bit of peanut satay sauce on his shirt.  
“Oh shoot!” he exclaims. Rachel tries dabbing at it with a napkin.  
“What? Are you insane? Don’t do that!” Kurt exclaims, smacking the napkin out of Rachel’s hand and onto the floor. “You’re just rubbing it in! This is exactly why I carry a stain emergency kit everywhere I go,” he says, pulling a small black bag out of nowhere.  
“Come on Jesse,” he says. “Come to the bathroom with me. I’ll have you cleaned up in five minutes flat.”  
“Wow, Kurt. You’re a hero!” Jesse exclaims, following him to the bathroom like a puppy.  
Blaine and Rachel sit at the table in silence for a few seconds until Blaine tries to make small talk with her.  
“So, I heard that Barbra Streisand is making a special appearance at the Tony’s this year. Are you excited?”  
“I know what you did,” she tells Blaine.  
She was afraid to say anything at first, knowing how Kurt would react if he found out, but she couldn’t hold it in any longer. Blaine looks at her, confused.  
“Wh-what do you mean?” he asks.  
“I know what you did to Kurt all those years ago, when you came to McKinley,” she says, hissing out her comments quietly, afraid they would carry to Kurt’s ears.  
“I-I still don’t understand...” Blaine says, furrowing his eyebrows.  
“Don’t play dumb!” Rachel yells, smacking her hand down on the table. Blaine flinched backwards. People in the restaurant turned around to look at her. Certain tourists hoped that there would be some signature New York City drama, just like how they saw on all of the TV shows. But Rachel lowered her voice again.  
“I know everything, Blaine. I know how you were friends, how he defended you in front of Karofsky, how you ran away. I know you ignored him afterwards, and how you made friends with all the bullies. I know how you beat him up.” Rachel hardened her tone even more on those last three words, visible shaking with rage. Her gaze was aimed straight at his, like a laser, daring him to look away, to act cowardly again. But he held, his eyes looked sad.  
“Well,” she said, after a few more seconds of silence. “Do you have anything to say? Huh?”  
He hugged himself. “No.”  
“No!” Rachel yelled again, drawing looks from more than half of the restaurant this time.  
“Okay, okay,” Blaine said, attempting to shush her. “I do have something to say. I...I tried to forget about that for a long time. I was so ashamed. I was a coward, and Kurt was so brave.” Blaine’s voice was thick with regret.  
“When he said he had forgiven me for what I did, I didn’t believe him at first. But then he kept insisting that it was fine, and I just took it as a miracle.”  
“Well isn’t this convenient for you,” Rachel says, the bitterness obvious in her voice.  
“Look, I know that you have every right to hate me…”  
“Damn right I do!”  
Blaine looked up at her with sad eyes.  
“Rachel…”  
“No, you listen to me, Blaine Anderson. You are lucky to be married to someone as wonderful and great as Kurt is.”  
“I know,” he says.  
“No, you don’t. For the longest time, I thought this whole stupid feud was over jealousy. That he just disliked you because you got more solos or something. So yeah, I thought he was being a little petty. But then, after a little digging,” she lied, not wanting to reveal that Kurt had told her, “I found out what you did. He cared about you and you stabbed him in the back!” She yelled once more, and the tourists turned to the attention again, hopeful looks in their eyes.  
“And I feel awful-”  
“I don’t care how you feel! Kurt may have forgiven you, but I sure as hell don’t.”  
Blaine was a little scared. He had never seen Rachel so angry before.  
“You hurt my best friend. And that is something I don’t forgive easily. You’re on my radar, Anderson. And I swear to God if you ever lay an unwanted hand on him again, I will call my personal lawyer and file a domestic abuse case. You will regret much more than that stupid hairstyle you wore for half of your life.”  
Blaine was shocked. He knew Rachel better to know that they weren’t hollow threats. He just didn’t think that what happened so long ago would ever surface again. He hated himself for so long for what he did to Kurt, and when Kurt had told him to forget it, that’s honestly what he did. He had known that his actions would come back to haunt him again eventually, though. He closed his eyes briefly and opened them again.  
“You’re despicable,” Rachel said.  
They stared at each other in silence for a few moments. Then Blaine saw a weird look in Rachel’s eyes. She started laughing and kicked him underneath the table.  
“Ow,” he said and turned around. Kurt and Jesse were back from the bathroom, stain completely gone.  
“That’s amazing!” Rachel exclaimed. “You got it all out!”  
“Yeah,” Jesse said, sitting down in his chair. “Kurt pulled out this little bowl and started mixing all of these ingredients together. He was like an alchemist! Then he puts this white colored paste on my shirt, and three minutes later, the stain is gone! It wasn’t even wet afterwards!”  
“Wow, that’s really impressive.”  
“Well, you know, you can’t love clothes as much as I do without knowing how to take care of them. So what did you two gab about while we were gone?” Kurt smiles, looking between Blaine and Rachel.  
“Uh…” Blaine stammers.  
“Oh, you know, just silly stuff. I was telling Blaine about how I think my mom will be nominated for another Tony this year.”  
“Of course she will!” Jesse exclaimed. “Did you see her in her newest piece? She was fantastic!”  
The rest of dinner continued on as if nothing had happened. The group enjoyed the rest of their time there, and once they were home, Kurt and Blaine bid Jesse and Rachel goodnight.  
“So, did you have fun?” Kurt asks Blaine.  
“Um, yeah, I did.” Blaine says. “Jesse and Rachel are a lot of fun.” Except I’m pretty sure that Rachel hates me now. Although that’s my own fault.  
“Perfect! I’m so glad. You were right, tonight was a good decision. I’m glad we went.”  
“I’m glad we went too,” Blaine said.  
“So,” Kurt began, wiggling his eyebrows. “Do you want to watch more American Idol? We still have three episodes to catch up on.”  
“Sure,” Blaine says. They both change into pajamas and sit on the couch together. Blaine wonders if Kurt can ever love him if his best friend hates him. But after a few moments, he decides to stop worrying and focus on the beautiful man sitting next to him. 

On Sunday morning, despite Kurt’s protests, Blaine had convinced him that it was a good idea to take a walk outside.  
“Blaine, it’s April, and my app says that there’s a seventy-two percent chance of rain for the next hour.”  
“And? Come on Kurt! Live a little! Who cares if we get soaked? I found this bakery not too far from here that sells Nutella crepes! NUTELLA!” Blaine yells, jumping up and down and pulling Kurt forward by the arm so that he stumbles behind him.  
“Okay, alright,” Kurt says laughingly. “If I had known that you loved Nutella this much, I would’ve made you some of my amazing Nutella truffles.”  
Blaine freezes and turns to look at Kurt.  
“N-Nutella truffles?” he asks, stammering. “Y-you can d-do that?” Blaine looks at Kurt with eyes wide in wonderment, as if Kurt just told him he might possess some magical powers, or that he could breathe fire.  
“Uh, yeah,” Kurt says, confused at Blaine’s sudden awkwardness and misplaced reverence. “Is that okay?”  
“O-okay?” Kurt thinks Blaine might start hyperventilating, considering the way he was breathing heavily. “Kurt,” he whispers in admiration, “you’re my hero.”  
“Um, okay. I’m guessing this is your way of telling me that you want me to make some for you.”  
Blaine’s face blanches. He puts one hand on his cheek and the other over his mouth. Something between a high pitched squeal of disbelief and a giggle escapes his mouth, before he lowers his voice and says “Kurt, you would do that for me?”  
“Blaine, it’s not that big of a deal…”  
Suddenly, Blaine gets on one knee and starts reciting Shakespeare’s sonnet 18.  
“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Thou art more-”  
“Alright,” Kurt says, cutting him off. He pulls Blaine up by the coat collar and pushes him out of the door. “That’s enough of that.”  
They walk together to the bakery. It was only a few streets away, and while it wasn’t warm outside, it wasn’t too cold either. At one point, Blaine chances it and grabs Kurt’s hand. Kurt turns and smiles at him, and simply grasps his husband’s hand a little tighter.  
Oh my goodness, thought Blaine. This is amazing. It’s happening! The only thing that could make this better is if Kurt actually did make those Nutella truffles later. No, we’re already having Nutella crepes. I have to cut down on the sweets and stay fit for my hubby. Otherwise I’ll end up like the people in that Buzzfeed article that Tina showed me. I can’t believe that .2 percent of all divorces in America now begin from the resentment of their spouse getting fat!  
“You’re pretty quiet,” Kurt says to Blaine, a delightful smile on his lips. “Lost in thought?”  
Blaine chuckles nervously. “More like suffocating in them, am I right?”  
Kurt gives him a look that says, “I don’t really know what you’re saying, but I’ll smile because you’re adorable anyways.”  
“I mean… look Kurt, I-I,” Blaine sighs, confused about how exactly to put things without giving Rachel away. “I was thinking the other day about some of the things that happened between us when we were at McKinley.”  
“Oh, Blaine” says Kurt, shaking his head. “Look, I’m really sorry about all the stuff I did, but I thought we agreed to move past that.”  
“We did, we did. But I’m talking about what I did.”  
Kurt looks at him confused, until he realizes what Blaine is talking about.  
“Did Rachel mention anything to you?”  
“What? No, not at all.” Not a good idea to start a relationship on a lie, Blaine, he thinks to himself.  
“It’s just something I thought about the other day. I mean, I was pretty awful, with the things I did. Especially when I… shoved you.”  
“Blaine,” Kurt says, rolling his eyes. “It wasn’t a big deal. I forgave you, I got over it. Remember, we said we never had to talk about it again, ever.”  
“I know, I know. But I can’t help but think that maybe that’s part of the reason why you hated me for so long afterwards. I mean, I don’t blame you. Quite frankly, I was an asshole. And I am so, so sorry for what I did. I can’t even give an excuse because I know that anything I say won’t be good enough to condone my actions-”  
“Blaine, stop! I don’t want to hear this anymore.” Kurt stops in the middle of the sidewalk and pulls Blaine to a halt. “I forgave you for that a long time ago. And you’re right, maybe I did let it get to me for awhile, but it’s a non-issue anymore. That part of our lives is over. I just want to focus on what’s happening now.”  
“O-okay,” said Blaine. He was still averting Kurt’s gaze a little bit, but Kurt put his fingers under Blaine’s chin and tilted his head up so he could look into his eyes.  
“Promise me that this won’t worry you again, and we’ll never speak of it again.”  
“I promise,” Blaine said in a breathy voice. Kurt still had one hand on his face, and they were close enough to kiss. But Kurt would never do that, and even if he would, Blaine definitely didn’t want their first kiss to be on a crowded street in New York City, where people were already staring at them. So Blaine backs away and clears his throat.  
“Come on,” he tells Kurt. “We’re basically there.”  
They walk a few more blocks to the small, hipster bakery that made “the best Nutella crepes ever, second only to my Nonna’s,” according to Blaine. They walk inside and order two. Then they sit down by a window and enjoy their “extra thin pancakes burritos,” as Kurt called them. The couple have an enjoyable time, laughing and talking about the strangest dreams they had ever had. Blaine wasn’t even sure how the conversation had come up.  
“So my most bizarre dream was actually about us. I had it the other night. It was like some sort of alternate universe. We were dating in high school, but then you went to NYADA and we broke up, and then we got engaged, and then we broke up again! And finally, you got married to this elderly man, and I dated Karofsky.”  
“Karofsky! And an elderly guy! Are you serious?”  
“Yeah, I know right?! And then you two got married in a barn. And I was officiating!”  
“That’s insane! Okay,” Kurt began. “My craziest dream was actually about you too. I had a dream that you and I went to prom together, and for whatever reason, I was compelled to go in a skirt!”  
“A skirt?” Blaine asks. “That would’ve been so cool!”  
“And you went without hair gel!”  
“Ooh, not cool.”  
“Oh, come on! I like your hair now that you’ve stopped trapping it in that helmet of gel.”  
“Yeah, but it only looks good because I have you to teach me how to style it. Otherwise I’d look like sheep before shearing day.” Kurt giggles.  
“Anyways, that wasn’t even the weirdest part! I got nominated prom queen!”  
“What?!” Blaine laughs. “Did you give an acceptance speech?” he asks, lowering his voice to sound pseudo-serious.  
“No! But I did look fabulous in my awesome kilt!” Kurt’s tone got a little more serious right before he said “Finn said I looked like gay braveheart.” He chuckled mirthlessly.  
“Oh, Kurt. I’m so sorry,” Blaine said comfortingly.  
“It’s not your fault,” Kurt said.  
“No, but I should’ve backed off of him more. He was your brother, and I-”  
“Blaine, you can’t blame yourself for being friends with him. That’s not what made that drunk driver hit him that night. And if he picked you over me, well then, that’s just life. I don’t hold anything against you for that. In fact, I’m grateful that Finn had a good friend like you, one that he trusted enough to text afterwards.”  
“Yeah, but I know how much it hurt you to find out that Finn messaged Rachel and I about the car accident, and not you.”  
“Well, it did sting, but I got over it. He didn’t text Carole either, so we both wallowed together.”  
Blaine gives Kurt a weak smile and, once again, reaches across the table to hold Kurt’s hand. Once again, Kurt and his inner voice begin to argue.  
There he goes again! How am I supposed to resist something so tender and sweet?  
Why resist? Looks like you’re having a pretty good time.  
Well, yeah, but… I don’t know, isn’t this going too fast?  
You’re married. MARRIED. And you haven’t even kissed the guy yet. Things are going pretty fast and slow at the same time if you ask me.  
Yeah, but-  
No buts! Why not just enjoy the moment? Is this hurting you? Is it bad to hold your husband’s hand?  
Well, no. It actually feels pretty nice.  
Okay, point made.  
But!  
Nope! Inner voice out!  
Kurt looks up to Blaine and smiles. “Come on, let’s talk about something else. Finn wouldn’t want us to be so sad.”  
“You’re right. Also, you should finish your crepe before it gets too cold.”  
Kurt looks down at his half finished crepe. “Okay,” he says before taking another bite. He moans. So thin pancake burritos filled with chocolate and hazelnut spread was actually pretty good. Blaine starts talking again, saying something about how much he likes the atmosphere of this place, how it’s so quaint and earnest. Kurt is too distracted by the culinary masterpiece in front of to pay too close of attention, but he listens when Blaine says his name.  
“Oh, Kurt. You have some Nutella on your face.” Kurt’s hand flies up to his cheek to try and wipe it off. He misses completely, and Blaine reaches up and wipes it off with his finger. Without even really thinking, he sucks his finger clean. A millisecond later, the full affect of what Blaine did kicked in. He and Kurt stared at each other in silence for a few seconds. Kurt clears his throat.  
“I-I just didn’t want to waste good Nutella,” Blaine stammers out.  
“Oh, right.” Kurt says, trying not to think about it too hard. “Well, I think I’m about done. Shall we go back home? I have to get ready for rehearsal pretty soon.”  
“Okay, sure. Let’s go.”  
Kurt and Blaine walked back mainly in silence, but they were still holding hands. 

Later that night, after they had both gotten back from work and eaten, they ran into a small problem.  
“Blaine! Why is your room so cold?” Kurt asked, feeling the draft as he walked past.  
“Oh, well, funny story. When I was opening the window the other day, it got stuck. I accidentally pushed too hard and it broke. Now it’s stuck and won’t close.  
“You can’t sleep in here! You’ll freeze to death!”  
“Kurt, it’s not a big deal. I’ll just use lots of blankets tonight.”  
“But it’s going to be really cold tonight. At least that’s what my weather app says!” Kurt exclaims, holding up his phone. Blaine glances at it and sighs.  
“Okay, I’ll, uh, sleep on the couch then.” Blaine begins to gather up his pillow and blankets and head to the couch.  
“Don’t,” Kurt says. It’s barely above a whisper, but Blaine still hears it anyways.  
“Pardon?”  
“I-I mean, you’ll be really uncomfortable if you sleep on the couch. Why don’t you just sleep in my bed. With me. Together.” Blaine’s eyes widen.  
“I-I mean not together, together! Just like, you know, in the same bed. But not too close. I mean... ugh,” Kurt groans. “What if I sleep over the sheet and you sleep under it?”  
Blaine laughs, even though he’s just as red as Kurt is.  
“Sure,” says Blaine.  
So when they got in bed, Kurt and Blaine started off on opposite sides of the bed. But when Kurt woke up the next morning to find Blaine spooning him, well who was he to complain?


	7. Ones and Zeroes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mostly fluff and setup for some more exciting chapters to come. Blaine's band gets invited to a party. Kurt and Rachel make cheesecake together. Blaine and Kurt have a cute moment.

Blaine, Sam, Tina, and Santana were all sitting around a table, enjoying a nice lunch together in a large restaurant downtown called Fez’s Fabulous Falafels. Not only did they have the best falafels, as far as Sam knew, but all of the waiter’s and waitresses were dressed in drag. Needless to say, the place had a pretty fun atmosphere. The four of them were talking about going on tour as a band.

“Guys,” Sam said through a mouthful of falafel, “I think we should pull out all of the stops and do a nationwide tour, with like a hundred cities.”

“A hundred? Sam, that’s insane,” said Blaine. “We haven’t even released our first album yet, maybe we should wait and see if people actually like us before we decide to drive all around the country. I mean, what if we plan a bunch of tour dates and no one actually shows up?”

“Oh Blaine, don’t be a pessimist! It doesn’t suit you,” said Tina. “But I do think one hundred is too much. Maybe just fifty, or thirty is okay.”

“I mean, that’s still a lot of time. Just think, if we do thirty cities, and spend like three days traveling between each, that’s like ninety days we’ll be on tour. That’s a long time away from home. And I know that ya’ll got spouses just like I do,” Santana said.

“Well, don’t you think we should maybe ask Mercedes for some advice? I mean she is kind of our producer,” Blaine pointed out.

Sam sighed. “I just don’t want to ask for advice from her because I know what she’ll say.”

“Well, what do you think she’d say?” asked Tina.

“I know she’ll ask me to stay home, that she won’t want me to leave her.”

“Oh please,” Santana scoffed. “Mercedes is an independent, grown ass woman. I highly doubt that she needs you to take care of her.”

“No, I understand what you mean Sam,” said Tina. “When I talked to Mike about the possibility of leaving for awhile, he was pretty upset too. But he said I should do whatever’s best for my career.”

“What about you, Blaine?” Sam asked, turning towards his friend. “What did Kurt say?”

“Oh,” said Blaine. “Well, I haven’t really brought it up at all. I guess I didn’t think about it.”

“Hmm, sounds like you relationship is going great. How’s that whole “wooing” thing going?” Santana asked, voice full of snark. Blaine glared at her. Well, as well as Blaine could glare.

“It’s actually going really well, I’ll have you know.”

“Really!” Tina said excitedly. “Is he starting to warm up to you?”

“He is,” said Blaine.

“Oh please. Porcelain warming up to you? As if. I’ll believe it when I see it,” remarked Santana.

“It’s true! Just lasts week, we went to get crepes, and we were walking and holding hands the entire way.”

Santana rolls her eyes.

“A-and we’ve been sleeping together!” Blaine said without thinking.

“Woah!” said Sam. “Way to jump a couple bases!”

“I-I mean, we didn’t, like,” Blaine lowered his voice and moved his head closer, “you know, but we slept in the same bed. And spooned!”

“Aww, Blainey! That’s so sweet!” Tina exclaimed.

“Yeah, adorable,” Santana said, rolling her eyes once again and practically gagging. “When are you gonna make a real move, Anderson? Have you even kissed yet? You do know that you’re married to the guy, right?”

“I-I know, I’m just taking it slow. I want this to work out, and I don’t want to scare Kurt.”

“Well,” said Tina, “I think it’s nice how you’re trying to woo him. I’m sure he’ll be falling right back in love with you anytime soon.”

“Like I said, I’ll believe it when I see it,” said Santana.

“Well you will,” said Blaine.

“And, maybe even sooner than you thought!” said Sam. “So, we’ve been invited to play at a party this Saturday night! It’s super fancy, and it’s a pretty long party, so we’re only playing for a couple hours, then another band will take over. But it’s a really good opportunity for us, and the invitations are plus one! So, we should start deciding on a set list and costumes.”

“Wait, hold on, how long have you known about this?” Santana asks.

“Just since this morning. The guy called me, and I said I would get back to him after I asked all you guys. So, what do you think?”

“Hells yeah!” said Santana.

“Of course!” shouted Blaine.

“Why not?!” replied Tina.

“Awesome!” said Sam.

“So what’s the party for?” asked Tina.

“Oh,” said Sam. “It’s a political thing. Some guy running for congress. Apparently, his teenage daughter is a huge fan and recommended us to him for the party! He’s pretty liberal, so it’s gonna be a fun party. But we should still try and keep our setlist classy.”

“Agreed,” said Tina.

“Awesome guys! This is gonna be great!”

 

Rachel and Kurt were cooking in Rachel’s apartment. Kurt was showing her a new vegan recipe he had found for cheesecake, and they were making it together. It was the one night in a long time where they both happened to have a night off. So, there they were, in Rachel’s modern, clean kitchen, decorated with hanging lights and colorful barstools, trying to follow an impossibly strange recipe to make something as ironic as vegan cheesecake.

“So, we’re supposed to soak these cashews for 4-6 hours?” asked Kurt, inspecting the bag of nuts.

“And we’re supposed to crush these dates in a food processor...” Rachel said, reading the recipe on her tablet, “...and then we have to mix this coconut milk with lemon juice and maple syrup… and then let freeze for 4-6 hours.” Kurt and Rachel look up at each other.

“I’ll start picking movies out,” said Kurt, dropping the cashews and heading over to the television and turning on the Netflix app. “Okay, we should most definitely pick a theme. Should we do vintage movie musicals, Audrey Hepburn movies, or fashion documentaries?”

“Hmm, how about we try something different, Kurt? I feel like we always watch the same things.”

“Well if it’s not broken, why fix it?”

“No no, come on, you know better than that Kurt Hummel. Let try a new genre! Maybe old horror movies? Like Alfred Hitchcock. Or kung fu movies!.”

“Ooh! We could do Bollywood! Like Bride and Prejudice! Or we could go by directors, like Wes Anderson or Woody Allen.”

“All great ideas Kurt. How about we do Woody Allen. But only the good ones.”

“Of course!”  

They’ve gone through Annie Hall and Manhattan, and are halfway through Midnight in Paris when the cheesecakes are done cooling. Rachel and Kurt divvy up the tiny cakes amongst each other. They had poured the mixture into a cupcake pan, so instead of having one big cheesecake, they had a bunch of tiny ones.

“Because it’ll make us feel less fat when we realize we’ve eaten a whole cheesecake,” said Rachel.

They both take a bite at the same time and moan in appreciation and wonderment.

“How can something as oxymoronic as vegan cheesecake be so good?” Kurt wondered aloud.

“Mmm, it’s definitely because of that vodka you poured in at the last second. Alcohol is vegan, right?”

Kurt couldn’t answer because his mouth was too full of cheesecake. In between bites, Rachel took her opportunity to begin grilling Kurt.

“So Kurt, how are things going with Blaine?”

“Oh,” Kurt said, looking up at her and blushing. “Things have actually been going really well.”

“Really?” said Rachel, looking at him suspiciously.

“Yeah, I mean, we’ve been really getting along lately. And he’s been super sweet. He opens door for me, and he holds my hand as we walk. And we cuddle sometimes when we’re watching TV. And I make breakfast sometimes, or bake something every now and again. Like I said before, I’ve been taking your advice about doing the little things. Earlier this week I even gave him a back rub.”

That bastard deserves none of that, thought Rachel.

“And we’ve been sleeping together,” Kurt added shyly.

“What?!” Rachel exploded.

“I-I mean, not in that way… just because the window in his room broke, so it’s always really cold in there at night. We don’t do anything, just snuggle sometimes. We haven’t even kissed yet.”

Oh, thank God.

“Kurt,” Rachel begins carefully, “Blaine hasn’t… hurt you in anyway? Or forced you into anything?”

Kurt rolls his eyes at the suggestion.

“No Rachel, I told you, nothing like that is ever going to happen again. Blaine’s a perfect gentleman now. You didn’t… tell Blaine that I told you about it, right?”

“No, of course not Kurt. What kind of friend do you think I am?” Rachel lies easily. She is a great actress, after all.

Kurt sighs in relief.

“Good. I just… things have really started going well lately with us, and I don’t want anything to mess it up.”

“I completely understand Kurt, believe me. I wouldn’t want anything to go wrong between you and Blaine either.” Yeah right. “I just want to make sure that he is treating you the way that he should.”

“Thanks for looking out for me Rachel. You know, you’ve been so supportive throughout this whole thing. You were the one who told me to keep it positive and give things a chance, and look how well it’s turning out! And don’t worry, you’re my best friend Rach. And if anything goes wrong, you’ll be the first to know.”

“Good,” said Rachel.

“Well,” said Kurt, standing up from his reclining position on the sofa, “I better get going. It’s getting late and I have to be at the theater pretty early tomorrow. But this was awesome! We should do something else next weekend.”

“Okay! You should take some of those cheesecakes for Blaine.”

“Ooh, good idea!” Rachel gets a tupperware container out for him and she fills it with mini cheesecakes. Then she gives him a hug before sending him out.

“Love you Kurt.”

“Love you too Rach,” Kurt says before pulling away and giving her a peck on the cheek.

 

Later, when Blaine walks into the apartment after a long day of planning and rehearsing, he finds Kurt running around the apartment, dancing and singing. He doesn’t notice Blaine at first, so Blaine watches him for a few moments. Kurt’s back is to him, so he’s obviously pretending that the audience is towards the kitchen. Kurt does a spin and trips when he notices Blaine, almost falling over. Blaine laughs and rushes over to steady him. Kurt looks up at him, red and embarrassed.

“That was amazing,” said Blaine. “I haven’t seen you dance or sing since glee club. You’ve only gotten better.”

Kurt blushes at the compliment, his cheeks turning even more red.

“Thank you.” They look into each other’s eyes for a moment.

“Oh!” Kurt says, and then runs to the kitchen. He swings open the refrigerator door and takes out a square plastic container.

“Rachel and I made cheesecakes today, and she wanted you to have some,” he says, prying the lid of and holding the tupperware out to Blaine.

“Oh, well that’s really nice.” _And surprising._ He takes one and bites into it.

“Oh wow,” he says, mouth still full of cake. “This is really good.”

“I know, right! And they’re vegan.” Blaine looks at Kurt in shock.

“No way!”

“Yep!”

“You should quit theater. You both should, actually. Because I’m pretty sure you would make fantastic magicians, considering this is the most mystical vegan food I’ve ever had.”

Kurt simply laughs, a high pitched mirthful chuckle that Blaine can sometimes hear in his sweetest dreams.

“Hey, by the way, I have some news.”

“Oh really?” Kurt asks. “And what would that news be?”

“Well,” Blaine says, “the band has been invited to play at a really fancy party this Saturday night.”

“What?! Blaine, that’s amazing! Oh my gosh, I’m so excited for you guys!” Kurt starts clapping his hands and jumping up and down.

“Yeah, right?! But even better, you’re invited!”

“Really?” Kurt asks.

“Yes!” Blaine laughs. “All the invitations are plus one, and there is no one I’d rather have as my date,” Blaine grabs both of Kurt’s hands and puts one on his chest, “then the most handsome guy in town.”

“So basically this is your way of telling me that you’re asking Hugh Jackman to be your date? Well, while I don’t normally condone cheating, and I think that he’s a bit out of your league, I guess I can let it slide-”

“Kurt, Kurt!” Blaine laughingly interrupts his speech. “I’m asking you, silly. Come on, you know I’d never cheat on you. Even if it was Hugh Jackman.”

Kurt puts his hand over his heart in mock emotion.

“That makes me feel so much better. I can’t believe you would turn him over for me.”

“Well, like you said, he is kinda outta my league anyways, so… ow!”

Kurt punches Blaine in the arm lightly. Then they both laugh.

“Wait! There is one condition though,” Blaine says.

“Okay, what is it?”

“I get to pick out our outfits this time.”

“Fine, but I get to do your hair again!”

Blaine groans and rolls his eyes, but secretly he’s ecstatic about the arrangement.

 

Later, Kurt convinces Blaine to go on a late night walk to Central Park. It’s still a little chilly outside, even for April in New York City, but they bundle up with coats and scarves, holding hands through mittens and walking extra close to keep a little warmer. There are a few other people around tonight, but the park isn’t crowded. They stop on one of the smaller bridges and look over to the city lights, standing in silence for a few moments. Finally, Blaine says something.

“Kurt,” he begins.

“Yes?” Kurt says, turning to face his husband. He looks beautiful at night, thinks Blaine. His face is pale and reflective in the moonlight, and his cheeks are perfectly rosy from the cold. They are facing each other, and Blaine gently puts one hand on Kurt’s back, pulling him in a little closer.

“I know that this… our relationship, wasn’t exactly ideal for either of us, but…” Blaine trails off, distracted by the look in Kurt’s eyes. He looks… hopeful, maybe? Blaine can’t tell. He continues.

“...but I’m really glad that I got matched with you. I… I guess what I’m trying to say is that…” Blaine closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. “I care about you Kurt. A lot. And I know that you might not feel the same, might never feel the same, but that’s okay.” Blaine ignores how his throat closes up at the thought of Kurt never loving him back. “I just wanted you to know that I am desperately falling for you, and I don’t think that I can stop myself.”

Kurt looks at him, eyes wide with surprise. It’s obvious he’s thinking, but perhaps he lets the silence linger on a bit too long, because Blaine suddenly finds himself going through a myriad of emotions as he waits for Kurt to respond. First, he was hopeful, then, when the silence persisted, he began to get a little nervous. When Kurt continued to say nothing, Blaine felt the devastation settle in. He closes his eyes again.

“Please say something, Kurt.”

“I-I... don’t really know what to say…” he begins quietly. “I-I mean, I only hoped you felt the same way as I did, but of course I didn’t assume…” Kurt starts rambling nervously now.

“I mean, I just thought you were being nice to me, because you wanted this marriage to work out, but, but I didn’t think that you actually… oh wow.” Kurt almost begins to hyperventilate, and Blaine just stares at him, hopelessly confused.

“I-I just can’t believe that you actually care about me in that way! Because, I mean, I know that it sounds stupid, but I’ve never really thought anyone would care about me like that, and!...” Kurt laughs. He actually throws his head back and laughs, a short chuckle of disbelief.

“Oh my gosh. Blaine! Can you believe it? It worked! Those sons of bitches! It actually worked!”

“Kurt, what are you talking about?”

“Blaine! The match program! It actually worked. Look! Look at us! Two lonely people, and we let a computer program, just a bunch of ones and zeroes, put us together. And now that we’re together, we’ve actually fallen for each other!”

“You mean...?”

“I can’t believe it!” Kurt looks Blaine directly in the eyes. “We are both falling madly for each other thanks to a marriage arranged by a computer algorithm. Goodness gracious, Blaine. What a riot! This would make a terribly cheesy romantic comedy.” Kurt laughs again. Blaine doesn’t know what to make of the situation.

“I… Kurt, what are you saying?” he asks, wanting to make sure he understood.  

“Blaine,” Kurt says, putting one hand on his husband’s cheek and drawing him closer still. “What I’m saying is that you, this marriage… it’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

Blaine catches his breath.

“Oh Kurt.”

“I honestly haven’t been this happy in a really, really long time. And out of all the people that that stupid computer algorithm possibly could’ve matched me up with, I’m really glad that it’s you I get to wake up to every morning, and oh-!”

Blaine cuts Kurt off with a warm, enveloping hug. Kurt melts into his arms, and they enjoy each other’s embrace for a few seconds.

“You’re amazing,” Kurt whispers into Blaine’s ear.

“Well you’re wonderful,” replies Blaine. They both withdraw themselves slightly, only enough so that they are able to look at each other in the eyes. Kurt is close enough to Blaine so that he can see every single freckle on his face, even in the dim moonlight. Blaine can smell the intoxicating combination of Kurt and some nearby cherry blossom trees. Before they realize what’s happening, they find themselves sharing the sweetest kiss that either of them has ever known. Blaine wraps his arms around Kurt’s torso and pulls him in a little tighter, and Kurt cups one of Blaine’s cheeks with one hand, and runs the other hand through his lover’s hair.

After what seemed like only a few seconds but was actually a pretty lengthy kiss, they parted. Kurt rests his forehead on Blaine’s and breathes out shakily. Blaine just smiles.

“Kurt,” he says.

“Hmm?” Kurt barely has enough breath to respond. He leans his head against Blaine’s shoulder.

“We just kissed for the first time.”

Kurt pops his head back up.

“I know, crazy right? I don’t know if you actually remember this or not, but I was there too. You know, I was the guy in front of you, reciprocating the kiss.”

Blaine laughs.

“Kurt?”

“Mmh?”

“Can we kiss again?”

Kurt smiles and brings his lips to Blaine’s again. They’re enjoying themselves so much, they stay there for hours, young fools in love, kissing until midnight.


	8. The Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blaine's band performs at the party.

“I’m so excited about this party Blaine!” Kurt shouts as he puts on his suit. Even though they were in the same room, Kurt felt the need to yell everything he said tonight. Blaine walks over to him and helps with his tie. Kurt’s much too excited to put it on himself- his fingers are trembling and he hasn’t stopped bouncing.

“Honey, if you don’t stand still, I can’t tie this for you.”

Kurt takes Blaine’s hands in his and holds them, looking into Blaine’s eyes.

“I’m really glad that you picked me as your date. You guys are gonna kill tonight.”

Blaine smiled and looked down at his shoes for a second, cheeks reddening slightly from his husband’s compliment. Unsure of what to say at first, he finally settles on a simple “thank you,” before pulling Kurt into a warm embrace. Kurt pulled back and placed a kiss on Blaine’s mouth. He gently moved his lips across the other man’s. Blaine moaned appreciatively, tightening his arms around Kurt’s waist.

Blaine was enjoying this, very much, but he knew they had to go soon if they wanted to make it on time to the party, so he ended the kiss by biting on Kurt’s bottom lip, a little too hard. Not hard enough to draw blood or anything, Blaine wasn’t a vampire after all, but just hard enough to make Kurt want to stop.

“Ow! Blaine!”

“Come on Kurt, we have to go soon,” Blaine said as his fingers flew up to Kurt’s tie, finishing the knot he had started earlier.

“So this is your way of telling me we should go? Or is this your way of telling me you want things a little more rough?” Kurt said, smirking. Blaine glanced up shyly.

“Maybe both. But, we can discuss that later. Let’s go!” Blaine grabbed Kurt’s hand, lacing his own fingers through his husband’s and pulling him towards the door. Kurt skipped along happily, humming and bobbing his head.

When the taxi arrived at the address that Sam had given Blaine, they had to double check and see if it was the right place or not. The location was a giant abandoned warehouse. It was a grey building on the outskirts of Manhattan. Most of the windows were either shattered or had been knocked out completely. The building looked as though it could be at least a hundred years old, if not more. Kurt snuck a glance at the old, faded sign in front of the building. It was difficult to read, with all the apparent water damage the sign had gone through, but eventually Kurt could make out the words “Manhattan Washing Co..”

“Blaine,” Kurt called out to his husband. “Is this politician having a party in an abandoned washing machine warehouse?”

“Uh… I guess so? Come on, let’s go inside.” Blaine grabs Kurt’s hand and they walk in a matching pace up to the large, heavy, gray front doors. They’re so old they look like they’ve been rusted shut. Standing in front of the doors are two men in suits that are almost the same color of grey as the building.

“Names?” The guard on the left asks, his expression never changing.

“Blaine Anderson and Kurt Hummel,” Blaine says.

The guard doesn’t check a list or anything, he simply open the door for them. He doesn’t say another word, so they walk in without asking questions. When they walk in, they are very surprised at what they see. Even though the word “rundown” doesn’t even begin to describe the building, the decorations somehow manage to make the place look elegant. There are round tables and chairs set up, all draped with white tablecloths. The space is wide and long, but it’s expertly arranged so it doesn’t seem too empty. In front of them, towards the back, is the stage. It’s really just a raised wooden platform, with spotlights shining on it. Sam, Tina, and Santana are already there, setting up instruments and checking mikes. Blaine and Kurt walk over to meet them.

“Oh hey guys!” Mercedes calls out. She is sitting in a chair near the stage, checking her phone. Kurt breaks free of Blaine’s grasp and runs up to her to give her a hug. Mike and Brittany were nearby too, practicing dance moves. Brittany and Mike both had jobs now as choreographers for movies and musicals. They were becoming fairly popular among some of the younger directors, and sometimes liked to work together. Kurt went over to talk to them after he had greeted Mercedes, and Blaine wandered onto the stage.

“Hey hobbit, we’re just getting set up here.” Santana said from where she was standing at one of the mikes.

“Oh, Blaine! Do you wanna go and check the piano, see if it’s in tune and all that?” Sam asked.

“Sure, why not?” Blaine replied, walking over to the Steinway. They were mainly a piano driven band, so sometimes Blaine felt a lot of pressure to always play perfectly. They all sang, but Santana was usually lead vocals. Sam was on the guitar, and Tina was on drums. She had learned to play about a three years ago, only because that was the condition that Sam gave to let her in the band. She had learned quickly, in about a two months, and she was actually really good. Blaine was happy that Tina had found something that she loved to do.

“Hey guys,” Tina said, “shall we warm up with a song? The party’s gonna start in like, half an hour.”

“Good point Tina!” Sam said. “Let’s start with a cover. Wanna do ‘Lean On?’”

“Heck yeah!” shouted Tina.

They began playing the song. Blaine loved this song, and he thought the band sounded good covering it in their style. The building had pretty decent acoustics for a warehouse, surprisingly, and afterwards, the people who were rushing around setting up stopped and cheered for them. Blaine hopped off the stage and ran to Kurt.

“So, what’d you think?” he asked Kurt.

“That was really good! You guys were great!”

“Well, thank you. Are you sure you’re going to be okay by yourself? I feel kinda bad bringing you here and then leaving you all alone.”

Kurt rolls his eyes.

“Blaine, I’ll be fine. You guys are only playing for half of the time, and Mercedes, Mike and Brittany are here. And Rachel and Jesse will be showing up later too.”

“Rachel and Jesse? Why are they coming?”

“Oh, well apparently they’re high profile enough to receive invitations to this sort of event. So they’ll be showing up sometime tonight. Meanwhile, where is this politician?”

“I actually heard he’s gonna be late.” Brittany chime in. “I think it’s because he was saving some baby kittens who got abandoned by their mom and then kidnapped by an underpaid Chinese food delivery guy.”

Kurt blinks at her statement, then turns back to Blaine.

“Well okay then.”

Blaine grabs his hand.

“Hey, again, I’m really glad you came with me tonight. It means a lot.”

“Blaine, it’s not a big deal. You’re my husband. And we care about each other, remember?”

“I know, trust me, I’ll never forget.” He leans forward and pecks Kurt on the cheek. “I’ll see you after our set, okay?”

Some of the guests had started filtering in, and the party was about to start.

“Okay,” Kurt says, and then watches Blaine get on stage again.

 

A half hour later, the party is in full swing. The warehouse was full of people. The crowd was mostly young, and varied. Everything from actors, performers, writers, businessmen, teachers, techies, and politicians filled the room. Kurt was having a fun time, although he still had no idea who this party was even for or what it was about. Rachel and Jesse had shown up, and he was talking to them about a new show that he had recently heard about, when Rachel announced that she was having some sort of personal emergency and had to go to the bathroom. She had dragged Jesse with her. Kurt looked around and tried to seem busy, not wanting anyone to approach him. Blaine, Santana, Sam and Tina sounded really good, and people were enjoying the music, it seemed. Kurt was currently eavesdropping on a conversation between to young women, trying to learn what this whole party was about, but all he could hear was that the man in question was going to make a speech halfway through, between the first and second band’s sets. Kurt was sitting at a completely empty table, drinking a glass of wine, when a young man came up to him.

“Someone as handsome as you shouldn’t be here alone tonight.” The man took a seat in the chair next to him. Kurt would be lying if he said he didn’t think the guy was handsome. Obviously, he only had feelings for Blaine, but he could still appreciate other people’s looks, right?

“So, what’s your name cutie?” the guy asked. He was tall and thin, wearing a light grey suit and a dark tie. He had brown hair that was styled up, and he wore thick black glasses. His smile was charming, and even though Kurt would normally find this kind of predatory flirting a little creepy, for whatever reason, it was almost endearing on this man. Kurt could tell that he wasn’t serious about what he was saying. He seemed a little shy, almost, and his nervous smile showed Kurt that he didn’t do this kind of thing very often.

“Kurt Hummel,” he said, extending a hand. “But, I’m afraid I’m already married.” Kurt held up his left hand so the stranger could see his ring.

“Aww, drat! Too little too late, huh?” the stranger teased. “So, are you enjoying the party?”

“Yeah, I am. Although I don’t really know what it’s about. I just came because my husband is playing in the band.”

The man stole a glance at the stage.

“Blondie playing the guitar?” he asked.

Kurt laughed. He’d have to tell Sam about that later.

“No, the cutie on the piano, actually,” Kurt said.

“Ooh, nicely done.”

They both chuckled.

“Thanks,” said Kurt.

“Did you pick him yourself? Or did you get matched up? Is that too personal of a question? I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

“No, it’s fine. I did get matched up. It’s a little ironic though, because we actually went to high school together, but we hated each other back then. Then we got matched up…”

“And now you’re happily in love.” The stranger claps his hands together. “Wow, that is one for the silver screen.”

“Yeah, that’s what I told Blaine too! So what about you? Are you married? You look twenty-five. Or are you just that good at hiding your age?”

“No, no. I’m actually 27, but I got out of the whole marriage thing by being an ambassador in another country for the past few years. The government can’t really get you if you don’t live in America.”

“Oh, okay. What country were you in?”

“France,” the stranger said. “I’m so glad I was gone while all of this crap was happening over here. I could never imagine being forced to marry someone. I just feel like it’s such a violation of freedom. Like, how do people find happiness in arranged marriages? Like, do you think, if they got rid of this stupid law tomorrow, that you, or half of the other people who have gotten matched, would stay married, or would you get a divorce?”

Kurt blinked in surprise. He wasn’t expecting such deep questions from a stranger.

“Wow, that is really personal. But, I guess I could answer. I mean, I’m really happy being married. I really care about my husband, and I’m glad we got matched up.”

The stranger nods his head and smiles.

“Well I am really happy for you. You are pretty luck then.”

“Why? Are a lot of people unhappy with in their marriages?”

“Well yeah! Of course! Come on Kurt, I mean, you love your husband now, right? But when you first got that letter, telling you that you had three months, were you happy about that? Were you happy when you registered on the match website? Or hopeless? Some people aren’t as lucky as you two were,” the man says, looking up at Blaine and then back to Kurt. “I mean, sometimes the algorithm picks wrong. Some people get saddled up with weirdos, or criminals, or just awful people. Not everyone is so easy to decipher just by looking at their Facebook likes and Google searches, you know? And not everyone is mature enough to get married at 25 either. ”

“Oh, I guess I never thought of it that way before. Now that I think about it, I’m sure there must be lot of unhappy marriages because of this law.”

“There are,” the man agrees, nodding his head. Kurt begins to catch on.

“You’re him, aren’t you? The politician that’s speaking tonight? And you’re trying to get everyone to see that forced marriage is wrong and get the law revoked, aren’t you?”

The man smiled, but it wasn’t a seedy smile, like one you would expect from a politician. It was actually a kind smile, one that showed all of his teeth and made his eyes sparkle a little, even.

“You’re pretty smart, Kurt. Yes, I am.” The man stood up and extended his hand. Kurt stood up and shook it.

“Sebastian Smythe. Pleased to meet you Kurt Hummel.” He looked over to the stage. “Well, it’s about time for my speech, but it’d be nice to talk to you again sometime.” And with that, Sebastian turned and walked towards the stage.

So it’s an anti-match party, and he’s the head honcho, huh? This’ll be interesting. I should probably tell Blaine, Kurt thinks to himself. At that moment, Rachel and Jesse reappear from… wherever they were.

“Kurt! I have amazing news!” Rachel squeals out.

“Okay, how do you go from having a major emergency to having amazing news?”

“Just listen! So, I got a call from my director. Apparently, my show is being cancelled.”

Rachel looks positively giddy, but Kurt recoils in horror.

“Rachel! That’s terrible! Why are you so happy about this?!”

“Because! I got offered another show!”  
“So soon? Geez girl.”

“I know, right? And guess what it is!”

Kurt sighs.

“Are you playing little orphan Annie?”

“Nope! Better! I’m going to be the new Elphaba!”

Kurt gasps. “Rachel! That’s amazing news!” He grabs her and pulls her into a fierce hug.

“We’re so proud of you Rach,” says Jesse.

“Thanks you guys! You two are the best! I just feel like I’ve finally arrived, you know?” Rachel rambles on for a couple of minutes, until Kurt interrupts her.

“Sorry, I just realized that the band finished their set. I’m going to go congratulate Blaine.” Kurt runs off to where Blaine is talking to Sam and Tina. He takes Blaine’s hand and pulls him away.

“Hey, what’s up?” Blaine asks.

“Well, first of all, I wanted to congratulate you on your awesome set!” Kurt says, throwing his arms around his husband’s waist and giving him a hug.

“Aww, thank you,” Blaine says, pulling back to look into Kurt’s eyes.

“And! I met the politician.”

“You did? Did you talk to him? Did you find out what this whole thing is about?”

“Yes! Oh B, you’re never gonna guess, it’s a-”

Kurt is cut off when Sebastian goes up to the microphone on stage and starts speaking.

“Welcome, everyone, to my party!” People began clapping when he starts talking.

“As you all know, I’m Sebastian Smythe. If everyone could please have a seat, I will be making my speech right about now.”

Blaine turns back to face Kurt and grabs his hand again.

“Come on, let’s go sit down. I guess I’m about to find out.

They go back to the table where Jesse and Rachel were. Santana, Brittany, Sam, Mercedes, Tina and Mike are also there. On either side of Kurt and Blaine are Rachel and Sam. From across the table, Blaine can see that Santana is looking at them intently, as if trying to figure out what exactly is going on between them. Blaine, without letting Kurt notice, stealthily raises their clasped hands to the table. Santana gives him a surprised look, and Blaine just smiles sweetly at her. Sebastian continues talking.

“Now, I know that most of us in here have been personally affected by this “Match Law,” he says, making air quotes with his fingers when he says the words.

“And I know the devastation that this has caused all of us. Not only is this law outrageous considering that America is a free country, but it is also archaic. The government has taken away every young person’s freedom by enacting this law, and I think that it’s about damn time that we all stand up for ourselves!”

Blaine turns his head to Kurt and whispers in his ear.

“Wait, so this guy is… anti-Match?” Kurt nods ferociously. For whatever reason, Blaine finds this situation kind of funny, so he chuckles a little. He looks around the table. None of his friends seem very surprised at what this man is saying. He must’ve been the only person who didn’t know what was going on.

“Now, just by a show of hands here, how many of you in this room are married because of the Match law?”

Almost everyone in the room raised their hands.

“Okay, now let’s see, how many of you were matched by the government’s algorithm?”

Kurt and Blaine raised their hands, along with about half of the room.

“Okay, so about fifty percent. Now, last question, how many of you, if you were matched, would say that you are happy in your marriage?”

Kurt and Blaine raised their hands. But not many other people raised their hands with them.

“Alright, so maybe about ten percent? These are awful statistics. And let me tell you, the numbers we got in this room pretty much match what we’ve seen around the nation.”

Suddenly, two men, wearing gray business suits just like the ones at the door, run up on stage carrying a large chart and stand. They set it up next to Sebastian.

“Thank you,” he says. “Now, let’s take a look at the facts.” He points at the presentation. The first paper shows a pie chart. Kurt leans over to Blaine and whispers in his ear.

“Way for this guy to be hipster. He’s using a pad of paper like it’s 1992. Powerpoint was invented for a reason.” Blaine chuckles. Sebastian continues.

“So, all across the country, unless there are special circumstances to be considered, everyone over the age of twenty-five is married. Percentage wise, 84 percent of all people over age twenty-five are married. As we all know, at the time of the law’s enactment five years ago, people over the age of 40 who were unmarried weren’t forced to marry, and people who are widowed or divorced aren’t forced to remarry.

Of that people who got married because of the Match law, 47 percent opted to pick someone for themselves to marry, while 53 percent opted to be matched by the government’s algorithm. And of the people who got matched, only 10 percent of them say that they are actually happy with their spouse.”

Blaine looks at Kurt and raises his eyebrows. Kurt shrugs his shoulders a little.

“We need to put an end to this now! This is America! We shouldn’t be forcing people to marry! Everyone should be free to marry whom they choose! Just before the match law was enacted, we achieved marriage equality in all fifty states. And in retaliation, conservative presidents after decided to create this law. I saw enough is enough. If you vote for me, I promise I will do my best in Congress to stop this law in its tracks!”

The crowd applauded uproariously. Sebastian walked off the stage, making a peace sign with his hands and posing every few seconds for pictures. Blaine hadn’t even noticed the press  until the flashing bulbs started blinding him.

“Wow, what a message,” said Jesse.

“Yeah, holy cow guys. I guess I’m just so happy in my marriage that I never really thought about how other people could be so unhappy,” Sam said.

“Man, this whole match law really sucks for some people. Good thing we all conveniently found our soul mates in high school, even though some of us didn’t know it yet.” Brittany look at Kurt and Blaine.

“Yeah,” Santana said. “Sounds like you two are some of the lucky ones, huh? She nodded in the direction of Kurt’s and Blaine’s still clasped hands.

“I still can’t believe all that time at McKinley, the two of you,” Mercedes said, “and you didn’t know you were meant to be.”

“Well,” said Kurt, “I guess that’s just how it happened. But,” he looked at Blaine, and put his other hand over Blaine’s hand, “I’m just really glad that we found each other now.”

“Aww,” Tina and Mercedes cooed. Santana mimicked a barfing noise, while Brittany took a picture on her phone. Rachel simply glared, but Kurt didn’t notice. Only Blaine did.

The second band got up on stage and started playing. They were good, but not nearly as good as their band was. After more mingling and talking, Blaine decides he has to get up to use the bathroom.

“Kurt, do you want anything while I’m up?”

“Hmm, just some water would be nice honey.”

Blaine smiles.

“Absolutely. I’ll be right back.” He wasn’t sure when they had started using terms of endearment, but he was definitely loving it. He would have to think of something to use on Kurt. Something cute, maybe even ridiculous enough to where Kurt would find it embarrassing. Maybe Kurtsie? Or what about Cookie or Muffin? Those were good ones. Blaine didn’t care if this made him a bad husband; he loved embarrassing Kurt. It delighted Blaine when he could see Kurt blush. It wasn’t a very hard feat to accomplish, honestly. All Blaine had to do was say how cute he thought Kurt was, or praise him for anything in particular. Apparently, despite how talented and attractive Kurt was, he was also very self-conscious. So sometimes Blaine went out of his way to make Kurt feel appreciated.

After he went to the bathroom, he stopped by the bar and asked for another water. The bartender got it for him promptly, and Blaine was so happy, he turned around quickly without even looking. He tripped slightly and spilled the water on a brunette who had appeared out of nowhere.

“Oh my gosh! I’m so sorry!” Blaine said. He grabbed a bunch of napkins off of the bar and started drying her off.

“Oh no, you don’t have to…” she started.

“It’s okay, don’t worry. I’m gay, so you’re husband can’t get jealous. And my husband also won’t get jealous.” They both laughed.

“I’m so sorry about this,” Blaine said again.

“It’s not a big deal,” the girl replied.

“I’m Blaine Anderson,” he said, extending a hand to shake hers.

“Marley Rose,” the girl replied. She took his hand and shook it. They smiled at each other for a moment, before Marley caught a glimpse of something behind Blaine. Her eyes grew wide.

“Oh my gosh! Quick, don’t say anything!” Marley ran behind the bar and ducked down out of view. Blaine was confused. A tall, dark skinned, dark haired man with a menacing look on his face came up to Blaine.

“Hey you,” he said. “Have you seen my wife? Skinny, brown hair. Goes by the name of Marley?”

Blaine played things off cool.

“Nope, haven’t seen a girl like that around here. Good luck finding her though man.”

The stranger scowled and then stalked off. After he was long gone, Blaine walked up to the bar and peered over the side to where Marley was hiding.

“Don’t worry, he’s gone.” She stood up and sighed in relief.

“Oh thank God,” she breathed out, still shaking a little.

“So, not that it’s any of my business, but why are you hiding from your husband?”

Marley’s face crumples up, and she looks as though she might cry. She steps from behind the bar and sits in a stool. Blaine takes a seat next to her and puts a calming hand on her back.

“He’s awful. I got matched recently, and we just got married. Jake, that’s his name, is the worst person in the world. He’s mean, and rude and selfish, and sometimes,” she lowers her voice and looks around before saying it, “sometimes he hits me.”

“Oh my goodness! Marley! You have to report him! You can’t let him get away with that, domestic abuse is illegal!”

“I know, normally yes. But he’s the son of this high profile business magnate, and I just know that if I even tried to get him arrested, his dad would just hire a lawyer and he’d be out within a day. And then he’d really come around for blood.”

She starts crying.

“I just don’t know what to do! I mean, it’s not all of the time, just when he gets really drunk. I came to this party tonight because, I don’t know, I thought maybe I could help somehow. But I think he found out where I went somehow, and now he’s even angrier than he normally is.”

Blaine sighed. Wow, Smythe was right. This Match program was really hurting some people, wasn’t it?

“Marley, you have got to fight back. You can’t just let him hurt you. Look, I know that you might not be able to leave him, but at least let me give you my number. If he ever tries to hurt you again, just give me a call. And,” Blaine takes her phone and starts typing in numbers, “here’s our address. If it gets really bad, just take a taxi and get out of that house. You can come over and stay at our place if you need to. Just promise me you’ll try and get help if he hurts you, alright?”

Marley looks at Blaine with wide eyes. She’s obviously still scared, but she looks grateful.

“Thank you,” she whispers. “I will, I promise.”

“There you are!” a voice bellows from across the room. Marley jumps out of her chair and turns around. Jake is stomping towards her. She walks towards him.

“I’ve been looking for you all night! What are you even doing at a party like this?”

“Uh, nothing. Just scoping out the competition for you father, of course.”

Competition? thinks Blaine.

“Well, are you done yet?” he demands.

“Y-yeah, I think so.”

“Great, let’s go.” He grabs her wrist possessively and pulls her out the door.

Blaine rushes back to the table, and Kurt stands up to meet him.

“There you are! I was just going to text you! You took so long, I thought you might’ve disappeared. Are you ready to go home? I’m kinda done.”

“Yeah, I’m ready.” Blaine grabs Kurt’s hand, appreciating now more than ever how lucky he was. “Let’s go.”

Kurt turns back to the table of friends. Tina and Mike had left by then, as well as Rachel and Jesse. How long had he been talking to Marley for?

“Hey, goodnight guys, we’re gonna go home.”

“Ow ow! They’s gonna get it on!” Santana shouts, more than a little drunk.

“Hey,” Brittany says, “when two magical unicorns have sex, does that make it twice as magical?”

“Yes,” Santana replies. They both laugh. Kurt turns back around to Blaine and pulls him away.

“And that’s our cue to leave, before things get even weirder.”

They walk outside together to the subway station.

“So, did you have a good time at the party?” Kurt asks. “Your band did really well. I know I said that already, but I’m just reiterating because I definitely believe it. You guys were amazing.” He pulls Blaine closer. “You were amazing.”

“Well thank you. And I did have a good time. I wasn’t expecting that Smythe guy to be anti Match, but it sure made things interesting. I didn’t know that there were that many people against it. I thought by now, people had just kind of accepted their fate.”

“I guess some people will never give up hope. I want him to win. I hope the law does get changed.”

“Yeah, I mean, wow. So the reason why I took so long in the bathroom is because on the way back, after getting your water, I ran into this girl.”

“Ooh, should I be jealous?” Kurt teased. Blaine rolled his eyes.   
“Definitely not. I literally ran into her. I spilled all your water over her dress, and then when I was helping her clean up, she literally hid from her husband. Like she ducked behind the bar like they were playing hide and go seek.”

“Wow, why?”

“Because apparently he’s abusive, and she doesn’t feel like she can tell because his father is rich and powerful.”

“Oh my goodness, poor thing.”

“I know right? Anyways, I gave her my number and our address, I told her she could come stay with us if he tried to beat her again. I hope that’s okay.”

“Of course! Absolutely.”

Blaine smiles at his husband.

“I just had no idea so many people were this unhappy. Maybe it’ll be a good thing if Smythe does win, and this law gets dissolved.”

“I think so too,” replied Kurt. “Let’s hope for her sake. And for all the people like her.”

Blaine was happy Kurt agreed with him. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do, but Blaine just knew that he wanted to help.

His answer came about a week later. He overheard two women talking in the supermarket. Their words had caught his attention because he had heard them say the name “Smythe.” Apparently, there were secret meetings, anti-Match meetings, that were held every week in an underground warehouse. (What was it with these people and warehouses?) Blaine barely caught the name of the place and a day and time. He googled it and found directions easily.

Monday at 9 o’clock. New York Plastic Co. Blaine would be there, and he’d be ready to fight. 


	9. Riots and Lies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blaine goes to the anti-Match meeting

“Kurt! Stop doing that! You’re distracting me!” It was Monday morning, and Blaine was making breakfast for the two of them. Well, he was trying to, at least, but Kurt wouldn’t let him concentrate on scrambling eggs. Not when he was nibbling on Blaine’s ear like that. Blaine was standing at the stove, wearing his plaid pajamas and an apron, trying to scramble eggs to go with the muffins in the oven. Kurt was behind him, pinning Blaine to the edge of the stove.

“You weren’t complaining when I was doing this last night,” Kurt replied. It was true. Lately, they had been going a little farther than just kissing. Surprisingly, Kurt especially seemed to like experimenting, finding what Blaine liked, and using it to manipulate and torture him.

“Kurt!” Blaine gasps. Kurt had moved his lips down, and was kissing and biting all along Blaine’s neck.

“Hmm?” Kurt murmured, not stopping for a second.

“If you keep doing that, you’re going to leave marks. What is everyone going to think when they see me covered in hickeys like some high schooler?”

“Well then, for once, Santana and Tina will actually have a reason to act scandalized.” He moved up to whisper in Blaine’s ear. “Shall we give them something to talk about?”

Blaine felt goosebumps all over his body.

“I-I…” he trailed off. Kurt chuckled.

DING!

Blaine was saved by the oven timer going off. He slipped out of Kurt’s grasp and grabbed the pan out of the oven door. He took a muffin and shoved it into Kurt’s mouth before his husband could try to ravish him again. It wasn’t that he didn’t want that, Blaine just didn’t think that he was completely ready for sex yet. Which was completely ironic, because Kurt was the one who had said no to having sex when they first got together. And now, Kurt was acting like he couldn’t wait to get into Blaine’s pants. This new Kurt Hummel was a complete one-eighty from the shy, blushing Kurt he used to know in high school. Blaine knew that they would have to talk about it sometime soon, but he was putting it off. Kurt interrupted his thoughts.

“So, what are your plans for today?” he asked, taking a bite of his cranberry muffin.

“Oh, well, I was going to go to the studio today and meet with the rest of the band and Mercedes, and we were going to discuss tour dates. And then, later tonight, I was going to go to that anti-Match meeting I was telling you about.”

Kurt’s eyes widened.

“Tour dates? I didn’t know you guys were going on tour.”

Crap. Blaine had forgotten to tell Kurt about that. Well, he supposed this wasn’t a discussion he could avoid.

“Uh, yeah. Well, we’re not sure yet. We want release the album first, see how well it’s received, but maybe a couple cities. Definitely not longer than a month or two.”

“Oh, I see,” Kurt said. “Well, just tell me when you get a definite set of dates. It’d be nice to know that kind of thing.”

Blaine hung his head guiltily.

“I’m sorry, I meant to tell you…”

“Blaine, it’s fine. Don’t sweat it. I understand.”

He breathed out a sigh of relief. Luckily, Kurt was a very understanding husband.

“Oh!” he said. “I almost forgot! I got you tickets to opening night!”

“Right! Opening night for your show. That’s two weeks from now, right?”

“Yep. I got one for you, my dad, and Carole. They’re coming up for it. They’re actually going to be staying here for a few days. Is that alright?”

“Yeah, of course,” Blaine said. “Oh, yeah. That meeting tonight. Did you still wanna come?”

“Definitely. That Marley girl you were talking about, I wish I could help people like her. People in that kind of situation.”

“Man, I know right? I felt so bad for her. I know that we turned out okay from this Match algorithm, but a lot of people didn’t. I really want this law to be abolished.”  
“I know, I do too,” Kurt said, pulling Blaine into a warm hug. Blaine snuggled his head into the crook of Kurt’s neck.

“I’m really glad that we did end up working out, though.”

“I am too,” replied Kurt. “And honestly surprised.”

“Surprised that we ended up liking each other instead of hating each other?”

“Yes. Does that make me a bad person for thinking that? For actually being surprised that we worked out?”

“No,” said Blaine. “I’m right there with you. I think all of our friends are too.”

“Really?” Kurt asked. “I don’t think Rachel was surprised. She was the one telling me to give you a chance the whole time.”

“Seriously?” Blaine asked, blinking in shock. “Rachel told you to give me a chance?”

“Yeah, she told me to be nice to you when we had our first meet at the coffee shop, and to try and do little favors for you when we got married.”

_Well that’s really surprising,_ Blaine thought to himself.

“Why is that surprising?” Kurt looked at Blaine with a puzzled face.

“Did I say that out loud?”

Kurt chuckled, but persisted with his question.

“Yes, you did, and why is that surprising? Rachel loves you, she loves us.”

“Uh, no, that’s not true at all.”

“What do you mean?”

_Crap, I probably shouldn’t tell him, Rachel would hate me even more if she found out that I ratted her out._

“Blaine, did Rachel say anything to you? She didn’t… tell you something, did she?”

“Uh…”

“B,” Kurt said, grabbing Blaine’s hand, “I need you to be honest with me. I hope you know that’s very important to me. I need to be able to trust the people closest to me. Please tell me, what did Rachel say to you?”

Blaine sighed.

“Well, when we were at the restaurant, she said that you told her about how I hurt you before, which I totally understand by the way. And then she said that if I ever hurt you again, she would get back at me herself.”

“Damn it!” Kurt yelled, smacking the counter with his hand. Blaine jumped back a bit, startled by the sudden outburst.

“I told her not to tell you. I told her to lay off.”

“Kurt, it’s fine…”

“No! It’s not fine! She does this to me all the time! I can’t take her anymore! I try to tell her something in confidence, and she goes behind my back and betrays me! This isn’t the first time.” Kurt closes his eyes and puts his hands on his forehead.

“Well, what are you gonna do?” Blaine asks gently.

“I’m gonna talk to her about it. She has to know that she can’t get away with just doing whatever she wants. She thinks she knows what’s best for everyone, and I’m sick of it!”

Kurt turns to Blaine and throws his arms around him again.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to get you thrown in the middle of this mess, and I really didn’t want to rant to you this morning.”

“It’s fine, Kurt.” Blaine raises his hand up to his husband’s head and rakes his fingers through his hair.

“I understand completely,” he says, kissing the top of his head. “Now, why don’t you get ready for work, finish your muffin, and I will see you later tonight, at the meeting?”

Kurt plants another kiss on Blaine’s lips.

“Okay,” he says. Blaine watches Kurt prance off to their (their!) bedroom to get changed for rehearsal. Blaine sighed to himself. It was relieving that their relationship was going so well. He had been worried for so long that Kurt would hate him, that he would hate Kurt, that coming home would be extremely awkward and stiff, but it was the opposite of that. Coming home to Kurt was so nice. Blaine hadn’t even known that he could be so happy. That’s what he told Santana later when they met with the rest of the band and Mercedes to discuss marketing and promotion of their new album.

“Well congratulations, hobbit. I didn’t think you had it in you. Somehow, you managed to woo Kurt Hummel. What’d you have to do? Put magic potion in his oatmeal?”

“Very funny Santana. No, I just had to romance him a little. Turns out, we’re a perfect match for each other.”

“Really?” asked Tina.

“Well, yeah. I mean, we have a lot in common, and we make each other happy. But honestly, the best part is how comfortable I feel around him. Even though we’ve only been together for a little while, I feel completely at home around him.” Blaine smiled as he continued talking. “I feel as though I could tell him anything, and he wouldn’t judge me for it, and I feel like I can just be myself when I’m with Kurt. I don’t feel the need to impress him or anything. I just come to him, and I’m home.”

“Wow,” said Mercedes, “I’m really glad that your relationship is working out so well.” She said this with the slightest sliver of sadness in her voice. Santana picked up on it immediately.

“Uh oh, I know that voice. Trouble in paradise? What happened, is that marshmallow chocolate swirl not working out so well for you two?”

“Santana! That was offensive!” Tina yelled at her.

“Oh calm down Asian number one!”

“Hey,” Blaine said, turning his attention to Mercedes, “where is Sam anyways? This meeting was supposed to start like, half an hour ago. It’s not like Sam to be this late.”

Mercedes sighed.   
“I don’t know, see, he hasn’t been acting like himself lately at all. He’s been showing up late to places all of the time and he’s been making all these excuses lately. I just don’t know what to make of it.”

“Hmm, sounds like trouty mouth is cheating on you,” said Santana.

Mercedes sombered at this remark.

“You really think that?” she asked. “I had suspected… but I had hoped…”

“No, that’s not possible,” Blaine refuted. “Sam loves you. There’s no way he’s cheating on you. How about I talk to him, you know, man to man. I’ll find out what’s up with him for you.”

“Oh, thank you so much Blaine. I owe you big time.”

“Don’t worry about it Mercedes. Now, let’s forget about this whole ugly situation, and talk about marketing!”

 

Later that night, around 8 o’clock, Blaine was walking to the underground meeting. Their band meeting had run late. Not surprisingly, Mercedes had kept them in that tiny room pretty much all day long. Sam had shown up about two hours late, then dashed out an hour before they were finished, muttering off some excuse about having to go find an electrician.

I guess I’ll talk to him tomorrow or something, thought Blaine.

Kurt had texted him; apparently his rehearsal had gone late as well.

 

_Can you believe that we’re only two weeks away from opening night and some of these chorus girls are still forgetting their lines? Mr. Porter practically went into a frenzy when we were doing the opening number and two of them literally ran into each other._

_Wow, that’s insane._

_Yeah, it is. You’re just gonna have to meet me there. I don’t think I can make it back to the house on time._

_Yeah, neither can I. Mercedes just let us go right now. I’m walking to the subway station as we speak. Meet you there._

_Definitely, see you in a bit dear._

Blaine smiled to himself. He was just getting used to Kurt using terms of endearment. It was honestly the cutest thing that Blaine had ever seen. Kurt wasn’t very affectionate with a lot of people, and when it came to Blaine, Kurt was almost hesitant with his affectopm, as if he thought he could scare Blaine away or something. But Blaine could tell that Kurt really enjoyed being affectionate with him. His favorite thing had to be whenever Kurt touched his hair. Especially when they kissed, and Kurt ran his fingers through Blaine’s hair, it felt amazing. For the longest time, Blaine had thought that his curly hair was ugly, but Kurt seemed to love it so much. It had to be one of the best feelings in the world, when someone you loved pointed out something that you thought was a flaw, only to tell you that it’s actually one of your best traits.

Blaine was only a few minutes away from the warehouse when his phone started buzzing. The caller was Kurt. He picked up immediately.

“Hey Kurt, what’s up? Are you almost here? I’m just a few minutes away.”

“No, I’m not. I’m so sorry Blaine, but I don’t think that I’ll be able to make it,” Kurt said with a sad tone.

“What happened?”

“Basically, one of the supporting actors fell and twisted his ankle. Now we have to practice with his beyond forgetful understudy, who barely knows half of the lines or the dance moves and is in every other scene! Mr. Porter is making us stay until at least midnight tonight to help this guy learn his part. I’m so sorry, I really wanted to go, Blaine, I-”

“Kurt, don’t worry about it, everything will be okay. Look, you just focus on rehearsal and being safe, okay? I don’t want you to get hurt. Just, come back to me in one piece tonight, okay? And wake me up no matter what time you get back. I wanna see that you’re alive.”

“Okay,” Kurt whispered.

“I’ll see you at home, okay?”

“Alright, goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

 

Blaine hung up the phone and walked up to the old warehouse. This one was even more dilapidated than the one where the party was held last week. It reeked of chemicals that definitely weren’t legal anymore, and the door was less of an actual door and more of a barely there piece of sheet metal that looked haphazardly stapled to the building, with part of it dented and pulled back so people could get through. It was all insanely creepy, but Blaine relaxed a little when he saw lights and heard voices from the inside of the building. He took a deep breath and walked inside.

There was a small group of people sitting in what looked like a waiting area or lobby. Ten or so old, overstuffed, mismatching ugly couches in differing shades of brown were arranged in a circle. There were also several vintage, uncared for armchairs thrown in here and there. There were probably about fifty or so people at the meeting, and most of them were sitting on the floor. Everyone stopped to look at Blaine when he walked in. The situation was awkward, to say the least, but Blaine didn’t really know what to say to get himself out of it. After a few seconds of a heavy, pregnant silence, Blaine finally decides to speak.

“So… someone told me that this was an anti-match meeting.”

A blond girl, with piercing green eyes looks up at him sharply.

“Maybe it is. Who wants to know?”

“Uh, I do. That’s kinda why I’m here. My name’s Blaine. I want to help.”

Everyone in the room visibly lets out a sigh of relief. The tension in the air dissipated to a major degree. The girl runs up to him and takes his hand.

“I’m sorry for coming across like that. I don’t mean to be rude. It’s just that, well you know, meetings like this are illegal, and we don’t want the wrong people finding out about this.”

“Right, of course,” says Blaine. He really wished Kurt were there with him at that moment.

_This wouldn’t feel half as awkward with Kurt,_ thought Blaine. Kurt always knows exactly what to say to people. Even if it’s not right, at least it’s something. Blaine wondered if there would ever be a point in his life where he wouldn’t get pathetically tongue tied around every stranger he met.

“Come on! Sit down,” the girl says, gesturing to the floor. She takes a seat in one of the larger chairs and starts to talk. Obviously, she was the main person in charge.

“Alright everyone, welcome to the first of many anti-match meetings in our new location. I can see that some of our regular members haven’t found out about our new location yet. Please make sure to inform them if you see them. For those of you who are new, I’m Kitty.”

“Hi Kitty,” everyone in the room murmured in unison, almost like a creepier version of an alcoholics anonymous meeting.

“Now, we are all here because regardless of our background, we have one common goal: to get the match law abolished. This law is an infringement of our freedoms, and we need to take back what our ancestors fought for for centuries. The only way this group is going to survive is by camaraderie. So, I want everyone in the room to turn to their neighbor and find out why they’re here. I’ll give you ten minutes. starting now.”

Blaine turned around, looking for someone to talk to. He wasn’t expecting to socialize at this event. He smiled in realization when he saw Marley talking to another brunette in the corner. He walked over to them.

“Hi Marley,” Blaine said.

“Oh, hey Blaine. Nice to see you. This is my friend Sugar.”

The other brunette extends her hand. She has too much makeup on, and a sad, neglected look in her eye, but Blaine gets a good vibe from her.

“I didn’t expect to see you here,” Marley says.

“Really?” For some reason, Blaine took a personal offense to this. “Why not?” he asked, crossing his arms.

“Oh, well, I don’t know. You just seem so happy in your matched relationship, I guess I didn’t really think that you would care too much about this stuff.”

“No, I totally do. I mean, okay, I didn’t until you. When I talked to you last week, I realized how wrong this whole thing is, and I started to care. And now, I want to be here, for you guys.”

“Oh wow, Blaine, that’s really sweet.”

“Wait,” Sugar says. “You are in a matched relationship, and you’re actually happy?!”

Blaine blushes fiercely.

“Yeah, I am actually. We care about each other a lot, and I haven’t been happier than this in a really long time, actually.”

“Woah! That’s so cool! So where’s your husband?” Sugar asked, looking around.

“Oh, no, he’s not here, actually. He got held up at work, and he couldn’t make it. But he wanted to be here, really badly,” Blaine added in.

Sugar and Marley didn’t seem to believe him, exchanging suspicious and knowing looks at each other. Now usually, people think that Blaine is fairly dense and oblivious, but with this, he caught on right away.

“No, guys. It’s not like that. He really did want to be here.”

“Excuses is step number one,” Sugar said.

Blaine felt sick. He hated it when people accused Kurt of things that weren’t true. He tried changing the subject.

“So, I know why Marley is here, but I don’t really know anything about you Sugar. Why are you here?”

If the conversation was awkward before, now it was ten times worse. Sugar looked down at her bright pink, shiny shoes and Blaine could’ve swore he saw a few tears slip from her eyes. But then she looked up, and Blaine could see the bravery spark in her eyes.

“I didn’t really want to talk about this tonight, but I will.” Blaine stayed silent.

“My husband, the guy I got matched with, well, he cheats on me.”

Blaine hurries to issue comfort.

“Oh, I’m so sorry…”

“No, that’s not all. He’ll bring women into our bedroom. Two, three, four, and he’ll sleep with them, and he’ll handcuff me to the wall and make me watch.”

Blaine’s mouth drops open and his eyes widen in shock. His stomach revolts in disgust. Who would do such a thing? Can someone that awful even be considered human? Blaine decides to voice the stupidly obvious question that’s waiting to be asked.

“W-why don’t you leave him?”

Sugar honestly starts crying this time, body racked with harsh sobs.

“B-because I love him… and I’m pregnant!”

Blaine didn’t know what to say about anymore. He tried to think of some comforting words, a way to say that he understood, but he couldn’t, because it wouldn’t be true. Everything he could think to say seemed so trivial. ‘It’ll get better’ or ‘I’m sorry’ seemed insufficient in every way. ‘What an asshole’ wouldn’t really be helpful, either. In the end, he decided to step forward and give Sugar a hug. She melted into his arms and cried against this shoulder. She kept mumbling, offering explanations and reasonings for her actions.

“It’s just that, if I leave… no one to support me… on the street…”

“Shh, that’s enough. You don’t have to explain yourself to me.” He patted her on the head with short, affirming little strokes. Marley was patting Sugar on the back, saying things like ‘It’s gonna be okay,’ and whatnot.

Their moment was paused when Kitty resumed her shouting.

“Alright everyone, just from observing, I think we’ve all had enough sharing for tonight. On Thursday afternoon, at three o’ clock, we are going to city hall. Congressman Rykos will be there giving a pro-Match speech. He’s the son of a bitch who proposed this law in the first place. It’ll be a televised event, and we are going to riot. Signs, posters, shirts, the whole works. Spread the word. Let’s plan to meet there at two-thirty. If you’re not convinced after hearing what your neighbors told you about why they’re here, then I don’t know what kind of monster you are.”

And with that, the meeting was over. Blaine hurried back home to tell Kurt about the riot.

When he burst through the door of their apartment, he found that Kurt still wasn’t home yet. He paced madly around on the floor, trying to think of what he would say to his husband when he walked through the door. It was almost midnight when Kurt finally stumbled in. His eyes were bloodshot, and it looked as if he was so tired that he could barely walk straight. Blaine ran up to him and gave him a long hug.

“You look exhausted.”

Kurt sighs.

“You have no idea,” he mumbled into Blaine’s shoulder. “I feel like my feet are crying. My vocal chords feel like someone stuck a knife in them and just wreaked whatever havoc they wanted.” Kurt looked up at Blaine with his bleary eyes and his face that was covered in sticky dry sweat. “We were practicing for twelve hours straight. And tomorrow it’s the same thing. I don’t know how I’m going to make it.”

“Hey, of course you’re going to make it! You’re Kurt Hummel! Look, why don’t you go take a shower, and I’ll make some of my magic tea for you.”

“What makes it magical?” Kurt asks wearily.

“Cocaine,” Blaine says nonchalantly.

“Yeah right Blaine, come on.”

“No! I’m being serious! It’s coca tea! Santana got it for me once when I was sick. She said that her cousin smuggled it in from his trip to Bolivia or something like that. It works wonders.”

Kurt chuckled weakly and rolled his eyes, not believing him fully.

“Alright, you need to get in the shower and put some more comfortable clothes on.”

Kurt looked down at his outfit, which was comprised of a moderately tight fitting t shirt and workout legging.

“But this is my most comfortable workout outfit.”

“Yes, but by more comfortable, I mean clothes that aren’t soaked in sweat.”

“Oh,” Kurt said simply.

 

When Kurt came out of the shower ten minutes later, Blaine had two perfectly warm cups of coca tea sitting on the coffee table, along with a blanket to snuggle under. Kurt leaned his back into Blaine’s chest, and Blaine put his arms around Kurt’s waist. They both closed their eyes and breathed in the scent of each other.

“So, how was the meeting?” Kurt asks, as Blaine knew he would.

“Uh, it was good, actually. I saw Marley again, and I met this woman named Sugar, who was also really nice.”

“Well that’s great dear.”

“Yeah, and later this week, we’re going to riot in front of Congressman Rykos’ speech at city hall.”

Kurt abruptly turned around and looked at Blaine with wide eyes.

“I’m sorry, you’re going to what?”

“Riot? But it’s a peaceful riot!” he hoped.

“Blaine! Oh my word…” Kurt puts his fingertips on his temples, massaging his forehead as if it might explode any minute.

“Do you know what could happen to you at a riot? Have you heard about the other riots that are going on through the country? People have been put in prison Blaine! You could go to jail!”

“Well, technically going to that meeting tonight wasn’t exactly legal either.”

Kurt’s eyes widened even more.

“You didn’t tell me it was illegal to go to anti-Match meetings.”

“I didn’t think I had to tell you. I thought you knew!”

“Of course I didn’t know! Blaine!” Kurt groans, then sighs.

“Please stop this,” he says tiredly.

“Stop what?” Blaine asks.

“Supporting this! I understand that this is something you believe strongly in, but I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“What about all of the other people who have been getting hurt, Kurt?!” For whatever reason, Kurt’s failure to see his side is making Blaine angry. He starts shouting.

“This is really important to me! I can’t just stand by and watch as all of this horrible stuff happens to the people around us! I need to help them, Kurt.”

“Can’t you just help them from the sidelines?” Kurt’s voice is tired and drags across the words. Blaine knows that his husband is too tired to fight, but he keeps going anyways.

“I can’t believe you of all people are acting like this! You were so supportive of this just a few hours ago!”

“Yes, you’re right, I was. Until I got on the subway and overhead some people talking about it. Now, I’ll agree with you, I think that this Match program should go to hell, but I’m not going to get myself imprisoned or killed in the process.”

“Killed?! How would you get killed, Kurt? That’s barbaric.”

“No, it’s not. People have died at these riots, Blaine. They get so out of control, and there are a lot of people who support this law.”

“But Sebastian said that there are so few people who are actually happy when they’re matched…”

“And that’s true, but the main supporters of the law are people who aren’t affected by it at all. People who are older, already married. They think that arranged marriages are for the best. And they outnumber us. Blaine, if you go this riot, heaven knows anything could happen. Please,” Kurt begged, grabbing his hand. “I need you Blaine. I need my husband. Please don’t go. At least not this time.”

It would’ve been easy to say no, to continue arguing with Kurt. Blaine probably could’ve persuaded him with Sugar’s story. But he didn’t try. What Kurt said got to him. “I need you.” It felt so good to be needed by Kurt. He didn’t want to give up everything he believed in, but he also cared about Kurt and didn’t want to hurt him. So, in retrospect, his decision made sense. It wasn’t right, but it made sense why he chose it, at least.

“Okay,” Blaine said. “I won’t go.”

Kurt relaxes visibly, shoulders slumping forward, and he breathes out a sigh of relief. He puts his arms around Blaine’s neck and collapses against him.

“Thank you,” Kurt says against his ear.

These were the kinds of moments that made Blaine realize exactly how much he cared about Kurt, and that helped justify his decision, at least in his mind. But it was moments like the meeting earlier, and people like Sugar and Marley, that also helped justify his decision. Which is mainly why Blaine felt fairly guilt-free when he was heading to the riot on Thursday afternoon, after he had lied to his husband.

 

 


	10. Lies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blaine starts lying to Kurt

In the end, Kurt had nothing to worry about. He knew Blaine would see his side of things and wouldn’t go to the riot. Blaine respected his opinions. The person that Kurt was about to talk to, on the other hand, did not.

When he arrived at the posh apartment complex in Upper East Side, Kurt didn’t pause and ask the lobby boy to announce his arrival, as was proper etiquette. He just marched up the stairs to the third floor and started pounding on the door of apartment 32B.

“Answer this door, damn it!” he yelled.

The door was swiftly swung wide open in response, leaving Kurt’s fist in midair.

“Kurt? Why the hell are you yelling?” Rachel asked.

“You know damn well why I’m yelling Rachel Berry!” He walked into her apartment without waiting to be invited in. He took a few angry steps in and did a quick turn. She was met with an icy glare from her best friend, and a look that said she might as well be a criminal.

Rachel was pretty sure she did know what this was about, but on the off chance she was wrong, she played coy.

“Kurt, calm down. Can you just please tell me what’s wrong.”

He scoffed in hurt and disgust.

“You are unbelievable Rachel. You know, at first, you try to convince me to give Blaine a shot. You tell me I should give him a chance, and that maybe he’s changed since high school. Well you know who hasn’t changed since then? You, Rachel. You are the same bitchy, backstabbing snob you were back then. The one who thinks you know what’s best for everybody!”

“Kurt…”

“Don’t. I told you what happened between Blaine and I in confidence. I didn’t want him to know that you knew. I just really want this relationship to work out, and here you are trying to ruin it!” He can’t help the tears that trickled down his face, or the way his voice breaks.

“I’m not trying to ruin it! I’m trying to protect you Kurt!”

“By threatening my husband, Rachel?! I’m married to this guy! And I actually care about Blaine. What were you thinking, Rach?”

Rachel was shocked that Kurt was taking Blaine’s side.

“What was I thinking? I was trying to protect you Kurt. Yes, I did break your trust. But I did it out of love and concern for you. Can you blame me for being worried? Would you trust Jesse and just do nothing if I told you he had beat me up in the past?”

“He did! He threw eggs at you, remember?”

“That’s different, Kurt! You know it is!”

“I know nothing anymore, apparently. I used to think that I knew who my best friend was, and how she wouldn’t lie to me, but I was wrong about that. I have no idea what else I’m wrong about.” He crossed his arms.

“Kurt, come on. This isn’t fair. I was just trying to keep you from getting hurt. All I told him was that if he ever hurt you, then he would have to deal with me personally. Is that so bad?”

“It’s not what you said Rachel. It’s that you lied to me. You told me that you wouldn’t tell him, and then you did. And then when I asked whether you had said anything, you told me no. How can I ever believe you again?”

“This is insane! Why are you siding with him so easily? Just a few weeks ago, you would’ve agreed with what I did and-” Rachel gasps. “Oh my God. Kurt. You can’t.”

“Can’t what?” he snaps.

“No no no, this isn’t happening,” Rachel says as she begins to walk around the spacious living room and run her hands through her hair.

“What the hell are you talking about Rachel? What can’t be happening?”  
“You two, Kurt! You’re falling in love with him!”

Rachel stops moving and stares him in the eye. Kurt freezes and his face turns slightly red. He drops his gaze down to the ground and speaks a little softer.

“So what?”

Rachel groans.

“Kurt, don’t let yourself fall for him. You can’t trust him. He’s only been back in your life for a few months. You just got married. Think of all the awful things he did to you in high school. Don’t let him fool you, Kurt.”

“You don’t know him, Rachel. He’s different now. He changed.” Kurt looks up at Rachel fiercely, his eyes shining with an emotion that Rachel had never seen Kurt direct at her until now. “I wish you would.”

Rachel gasps.

“I have changed, Kurt. Maybe you’re the one who hasn’t, because you seem just as naive now as you were back then.”

Kurt opens his mouth to object, but he stops himself. He says something else.

“You know what Rachel, you’re right. I’m completely naive to think that everyone is exactly who they say they are. So I’m going to stop being naive right now. Obviously you’re not who you say you are at all. You’re a liar, Rachel, and I’m done with you. Don’t talk to me, please. Or Blaine. I need to not see you for awhile.”

Kurt turns around and stomps through the door.

“Is it safe to come out now?” Jesse calls from the bedroom.

“Yes,” Rachel replies. He walks out and gives her a comforting hug.

“How much of that did you hear?”

“Well it was pretty hard not to hear all of it,” Jesse responds.

Rachel sighs and buries her head into her husband’s neck.

“Hey, it’s gonna be okay. You guys have had worse fights, right?”

“Yeah, but it’s never been this bad over a guy.”

“Well, what you did was pretty terrible, Rach.”

“I know,” Rachel whines. “I was honestly just trying to help. What do I do? How do I fix this?”

“Apologize to Blaine.”

“Never!” she yells.

“Hey, calm down. I’m just giving you the best option here. Look, the only way you’re going to gain back Kurt’s trust is if you gain Blaine’s first. You’re going to have to befriend him.”

Rachel sighs.

“You’re right. I know you’re right.”

“Okay, well now that you’re finally agreeing with the obvious, let’s make a plan.”

 

_Honestly, Kurt had nothing to worry about. It’s a good thing I didn’t tell him, then he can’t worry about nothing._ Blaine was at city hall for the riot, which was well underway, and nothing spectacular or horrifying had happened. He was holding a sign, standing and shouting with a couple hundred other people, watching Congressman Rykos give his speech. It was fairly peaceful. The police had taken away one guy, but that was only because he had hit one guy over the head with his sign. Besides that, there hadn’t been any fighting, and the riot was mainly going well. Blaine could see the news cameras and reporters around them, so he tried to stay out of the camera’s eye and blend in with the crowd. Kurt generally didn’t watch the news, but Blaine was just trying to be safe. He was actually enjoying himself a little. He felt so empowered standing amongst the sea of rioters, yelling and protesting. He feels as though this whole afternoon is going perfectly, until someone familiar bumps into him.

“Sam?!”

“Blaine?!”

“What are you doing here?” Blaine asked, confused.

“Me? What about you?”

“Well, I’m here to support the cause,” Blaine said.

“Oh, same dude,” Sam replied.

“Wait a minute, please don’t tell me this is why you’ve been late to meetings and making excuses to Mercedes.”

“Well, I mean, it’s not like I could just come out and say it…”

“Sam! You’ve been lying to your wife? How long have you been involved in this?”

“Honestly, since before we go married, but I’ve only recently taken a more active role. I just feel like this is so wrong, you know?”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean you should lie to your wife about it!”

“Oh yeah, like you’re one to talk! Where’s Kurt, huh? Does he know you’re here?”

Blaine doesn’t know how to respond to this.

“I… uh…”

“Exactly. Now, how about we just make a deal. I won’t tell anyone if you don’t. Kurt and Mercedes never have to know.”

Blaine sighs.

“I don’t know Sam, this feels wrong.”

“Alright, fine. Let’s call them and tell them then.”

Blaine’s eyes widen.

“R-right now?”

“Yeah, right here, right now. You go first. Call Kurt and tell him where you are.”

Blaine was stuck. Lying to Kurt and now Mercedes too? But what choice did he have?

“Okay, fine. I won’t tell if you don’t.”

“Awesome!” Sam says.

They spend the rest of the protest together, yelling and shouting at the scumbag who thought he could get away with this.

 

When Blaine got home later that night, he was surprised to find Kurt cooking dinner in the kitchen.

“Hey you!” he said, sneaking up behind Kurt and putting his arms around his waist. “What are you doing here? I thought your director was going to work you ragged until opening night.”

Kurt turns around and greets Blaine with a peck on the lips and a hug.

“No, not today. Apparently he had a family emergency or something, and he had to go. Normally he would’ve told us to keep practicing without him anyways, but I think he saw that we all had had enough. We had been there for ten hours already.”

“Wow, I’m surprised you’re still standing.”

“I have to! If I show any ounce of weakness, Mr. Porter will have me replaced by my understudy in no time.”

“Oh, I’m sure that’s not true. You’re too amazing to be replaced,” Blaine says endearingly, while holding Kurt in his arms.

“Aww,” Kurt cooed. “Thanks honey.” He snuggles his nose into Blaine’s neck. “So how was your day? What’d you do?” he mumbles in an unassuming question.

Blaine freezes. Crap, he should’ve practiced his lie.

“Uh, oh, you know… just writing songs… with Sam.”

Kurt looks up in surprise.

“Writing songs with Sam? Wow, I never saw Sam as the songwriter type. Can I hear some of them?”

“Well, I would let you, but they’re not ready yet. You know how that is hon. And yeah, recently Sam told me about how he wanted to help with some of the songwriting, and I said sure. He’s super self-conscious about it though, so don’t mention it to anyone just yet. He’s trying to surprise Mercedes with a song as a present.”

Blaine was almost surprised at how easily he fabricated the lie. It was scary, how it almost took no effort to lie to his husband. But thankfully Kurt bought it without any further questioning.

“Oh, okay. Well I promise I won’t tell,” he whispered conspiratorially, leaning in for another kiss. The sad part was that Blaine knew he could trust Kurt, but Kurt didn’t know that he couldn’t trust Blaine.

 

Later in the week, during Saturday afternoon, Kurt and Mercedes are having lunch together. They’re over at her house, and Sam and Blaine are both out “working.”

“At least that’s what he told me, but I don’t buy it,” Mercedes said.

They’re sitting at tall breakfast table, eating salads and freshly baked bread. Kurt stabs a piece of lettuce with a fork.

“I don’t know Mercedes, I think you should trust him,” he replies.

Mercedes give him a look that tells him he’s not the first who’s told her this.

“I’m just tired of never knowing where he’s running off too all of the time. Why does he have to be so secretive? Blaine said he would talk to Sam for me and find out what’s going on, but he hasn’t told me anything yet.” She puts her fork down and looks into her bowl of vegetables. “Santana thinks he’s cheating on me.”

Kurt gasps.

“No Mercedes, it’s not true. I know Sam, and he would never do that.”

“Then what else could it be?! Why else would he be leaving meetings early, canceling our dates, and not telling me where he’s going?” He can see the tears slipping out of her eyes. She starts crying hard, and he puts a comforting arm around her.

Kurt closes his eyes, debating what to do next. Then he opens them and focuses on Mercedes intensely.

“Okay, I’m going to tell you something, but you have to promise me you won’t say a word.”

Mercedes looks at him.

“You know what’s going on?”

“Kind of. Well, Blaine told me something. He said that he and Sam are working on a surprise for you.”

“A surprise for me? What kind of surprise?”

“Nope! Can’t say. Just know that he is definitely not cheating on you. He’s just trying to be romantic, in the best way Sam knows how to.”

Mercedes puts a hand over her heart.

“Thank you so much, Kurt, for telling me. You have no idea how worried I was getting. I couldn’t even sleep at night, thinking that Sam was cheating on me.”

“You have nothing to worry about. He’s crazy about you. I don’t think Sam could even lie to you.”

Oh, was he wrong.

“You know, I’m really glad that you and Blaine got matched up. I always knew it was gonna happen between you two.”

Kurt looks at her, confused at the sudden change of subject.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, in high school, I saw the way that he liked you, and the way you looked at him.”

“Woah, wait a minute. I never looked at him in that-”

“My point it,” Mercedes said, interrupting, “that I knew you two were made for each other the second you introduced him to us. And I’m glad it all worked out. Even if you had to get through years of hating him first.”

Kurt chuckles. “Yeah, I was such an idiot, ‘Cedes. I can’t believe we could’ve happened years ago. I feel so silly for holding us back with my dumb arrogance.”

Mercedes shakes her head. “Kurt, it wasn’t dumb.” She puts a hand over his. “Rachel told me what happened between you two.”

Kurt throws down his fork. “Damn it! That bitch just can’t mind her own business, can she?!”

“Kurt, calm down. I think you should’ve told us. I’m not saying that what Rachel did was right, but I wish you hadn’t have kept it from all of us. We were your friends just as much as we were Blaine’s. We would’ve stood up for you. What Blaine did was wrong, and the way you treated him after was also wrong. But I’m glad you two were both able to get over that.”

“Well, I’m glad too.”

“You’re in love with him, aren’t you?” she asked, a mischievous smile on her face.

Kurt smiled warmly and closes his eyes. “Yes, I am. And it feels so wonderful.”

“Have you told him yet?”

He opens his eyes back up in surprise at himself. “No, I haven’t. Mercedes…” he says, turning to look at her.

“Well what are you waiting for?! Go tell him! Ain’t no time to waste!”

Kurt laughs. “Okay! I’ll tell him tonight, how about that? I planned this fancy date for us at this nice restaurant downtown.”

“Ooh, that sounds like fun,” she says. “You should buy him some flowers or something.”

“You know, that’s a good idea Mercedes. Maybe I will.”

 

A few hours later, Kurt is at home, getting ready for their date. He wants to be ready before Blaine shows up at the loft, but he’s having trouble deciding what to wear. He has several shirt and pants combinations laid out on their bed. The flowers are sitting on the dresser, in a vase full of water. They are red and yellow roses. The old man and the flower shop convinced him that those were the best choices. He said that together, they mean happiness, love and excitement. Then again, he also had an eyepatch on and talked like a pirate, so Kurt wasn’t exactly sure he could trust him, but he decided to anyways.

After taking way too long to get dressed, he was just waiting for Blaine to get home so they could go. He was still debating between two colors of ties, when he saw his phone ringing.

Oh, it’s Blaine! For some reason, his stomach was full of butterflies. He picked up his phone and clumsily aimed his thumb for the green answer call button, missing twice before he actually got it.

“Hey honey! What’s up? Where are you? Are you almost home yet?” Kurt knows he probably sounds desperate and somewhat pathetic, but he couldn’t bring himself to care at the moment.

“Hey Kurt!” Blaine replied. For whatever reason, it almost sounded to Kurt as if Blaine were nervous. But then again, he could barely hear him. Wherever he was, it was really loud there.

“So, I called because I wanted to tell you something. I’m really, really sorry honey, but I can’t go out with you tonight.”

Kurt felt his stomach drop as he sat down on their bed.

“What?... Why not? We made this reservation last week, Blaine.”

Blaine sighs. This was a lot harder than he thought it was going to be.

“I know, look, I’m really sorry. It’s just that Sam and I were out, and we were over in Brooklyn, trying to find inspiration for our song, and we got lost. Then, when we found our way back, we got stuck in the middle of an accident.”

“An accident? Are you okay?”   
“Yeah, don’t worry about it. It’s just really loud and we’re far away, and I know I won’t be able to get back in time.”

“Oh. Okay, well how about when you get back we eat? I could order some take-out?” Kurt offers.

“No, that’s alright. We probably won’t be able to back until late. We’ll just grab something around here to eat.”

“Alright, I guess that’s fine,” Kurt says, a little hurt.

“Great. Oh, and Kurt?”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t wait up.”

 

Kurt had assumed that Blaine missing their date had been a one time thing, but as time went on, it was clear that he was mistaken. The worst part was, the more Blaine flaked out on him, the more desperate Kurt got. Today was a perfect example.

“So, we’re still on for the movies tonight, right?”

They were sitting at the island in the kitchen, eating cereal out of colorful, hand-painted orange and blue that had been a wedding present from Blaine’s mother.

Blaine looked up at Kurt with eyes wide open. Kurt knew what he was going to say before the words were even out of his mouth.

“That was tonight?”

Kurt sighed.

“Yeah, it was. But let me guess, you can’t come.”

“It’s just that I promised Sam…”

“You promised Sam! You guys have been hanging out so much lately! What’s the deal?! When are you going to make time for us, Blaine? I’ve barely seen you this week.”

“We’re just trying to get this album out, alright? Sam and I have been super swamped, and I’m sorry if that means I haven’t been able to see you much lately. But I promise I’ll make it up to you, okay? When this all settles down, we’ll do something nice.”

Kurt looks at Blaine with sad eyes, tears threatening to spill over.

“Can’t you just cancel with Sam for once? It’s just that I-I really miss you, and opening night is less than a week away now, and I’m so stressed out...I just really need you, B. We don’t even have to go out, or anything. We could just stay in, order take-out.”

Blaine doesn't know what to say. He wants to be there for his husband, but tonight is important for a myriad of reasons. It wasn’t just a riot or something trivial that he could skip. He was actually hosting this meeting, because it had been his idea. He had told Kitty how it would be a good idea to go to one of the press conferences for Congressman Rykos and some of the other people who supported the Match law. They would go disguised as reporters, and embarrass them with a barrage of questions. They had been practicing all week, figuring out ways to trick them into saying something offensive. If he didn’t go, the whole plan would fall apart. There was no way he couldn’t show up.

But then he looked across the table at Kurt, his husband. He had his head ducked down and was eating his cereal very slowly, hands shaking. It almost looked as though he was trying very hard not to cry. Blaine breathed in slowly, closing his eyes.

“Kurt…”

“Blaine, please… this is the fourth time you’ve cancelled on me this week.” Kurt reaches over to take his husband’s hand. “I just need someone to talk to. I’ve been drowning in all the pressure that I’m under and…”

He’s interrupted by a buzzing sound. Blaine’s phone is vibrating.

“Hold on a sec, it’s Sam. It could be important.” Blaine answers the call. What’s even worse than that, however, is that he actually stood up and went to their bedroom and closed the door, as if he didn’t want Kurt to know what they were talking about. He continues eating his cereal, hands shaking just as badly as they were before, if not worse.

Blaine comes out a few minutes later, jacket in hand, putting his shoes on in a rush. Kurt looks over at him in mild curiosity, already knowing where he’s headed.

“Hey, sweetie, so that was Sam, and he really needs me right now. I’m gonna go, but I’ll see you tonight when I get home, okay?”

“Okay,” Kurt says. _What else can I say?_ He stands up and goes to kiss Blaine goodbye, but Blaine walks right past him and out the door.

 

Just a few hours later, by a stroke of pure luck, Rachel runs into Blaine at a department store.

“Blaine?! What a surprise!”

Blaine looks up from where he is inspecting nerdy looking pairs of glasses he was thinking about getting for his reporter disguise when he spots her. He groans internally.

“Oh, hey Rachel. What’s up?” He asks, trying to be civil.

“Nothing, nothing at all. I’m just surprised to see you here. What are you up to?”

“I’m just looking for a pair of reading glasses,” he says coolly.

“Alright, I get it. What I did was wrong. I hurt Kurt, but you have to believe me when I say I didn’t mean to, Blaine!”

He snorts. “Alright.”

“Blaine, please. The only way he’ll ever talk to me again is if I apologize to you. So, here I am. Blaine, I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I threatened you, and betrayed your confidence. I just did what I thought I had to to protect Kurt. I didn’t want him to get hurt again.”

“Well you failed. And in the end, you were the one that hurt him, Rachel.”

Her face crumples, and she looks like she’s about to cry.

“I know,” she says with a watery voice. “Don’t you think I know that?” She puts both hands over her face and starts to sob in the middle of the store.

“Oh hey, none of that now,” Blaine chided, pulling her in for a hug. He still didn’t trust her, but he could never resist someone who was crying.

“Come on, you know that he’ll forgive you eventually. You’re best friends. It’ll blow over,” he said as he patted her back.

“Just promise me that you’ll take good care of him, okay?” she asks in a whisper.

“I will,” he replies. Except he hadn’t been doing too good of a job lately. Blaine knew that he was being a crappy husband. It’s just that some things were currently more important than his relationship! Wow… that sounded terrible, didn’t it? Either way, he knew Kurt would forgive him, as soon as he got enough time to apologize to him.

“Okay,” Rachel said, backing away. “I have to go now, I have somewhere to be, but if you’re not too busy later this week, maybe we meet? Try and mend our relationship some more?”

“Oh, gee, sorry Rach, I can’t. This week is really bad, I’m super busy. But maybe some other time?”

“Okay, yeah sure. What are you so busy with? Hanging out with Kurt?”

“Uh… no, not really. It’s just that… Sam and I have been working a lot for this new album…”

And that made three people that Blaine was lying to.

 

 


	11. Fight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kurt discovers Blaine's lie.

Kurt inhaled a shaky breath, trying to keep his emotions in check. He was sitting in his dressing room, putting the final touches on his makeup and making sure every piece of lint and each speck of dust was off his costume. Typically, he denied having OCD, but on certain occasions, it was hard to hide. And for crying out loud, shouldn’t he be a little obsessive? It was his first opening night as a lead in a show, after all.  

He pulled out his phone to double check again, but no luck. He was going on in thirty-five minutes, and Blaine hadn’t texted him telling him if he was here or not. Mercedes, Tina, Mike, Brittany, and Santana were all there, and they hadn’t seen him either. He starts panicking a little.

There’s a light knock on the door.

“Come in,” Kurt calls.

“It’s me,” Rachel says. “Can I come in?”

He briefly makes eye contact with her, than looks down.

“I thought I told you not to see me,” he says, but it comes out more sad than menacing.

“I could never have missed your opening night, Kurt. You’re still my best friend.” She pauses and swallows hard. “We have these defining moments in our life, and I know that this will be one of yours. I would hate myself if I missed it.”

Rachel dared to take a few steps in. She had been standing at the door before, waiting for him to give her some kind of signal saying it was okay to approach. He didn’t, but she took the risk anyways.

“So, I uh… I apologized to Blaine,” she says.

Kurt quirks up an eyebrow in surprise.

“You did?”

“Yeah. I’m kind of surprised he didn’t mention it.”

“Oh,” Kurt says in embarrassment. “I haven’t really seen him all that much lately. We’ve both been super busy. When did you see him?”

“Just last week. We were in Macy’s. He was looking through glasses or something. It was Friday, actually.”

Friday? The night of our date? Why would he be at Macy’s?

“Kurt,” Rachel says carefully. “Are you okay?”

He swallows hard. He’s never been good at lying, especially not to Rachel. She could always see right through him.

“No, I’m not. Blaine… he’s not here.”

“What do you mean he’s not here?” She furrows her brow in confusion.

“I don’t know, he won’t respond to my texts, no one else has seen him, he just skipped out on my opening night, apparently. And he’s been missing dates for the past couple weeks. He’s been claiming that he’s busy putting together the album, and writing songs, but… he just never makes time for us anymore. I don’t know what to do. And I feel like this is the biggest night of my life, and he’s not even here to share it. What if…” he trails off, tears slipping from the corners of his eyes.

“What if he’s cheating on me?”

Rachel closes her eyes. She wants to say the right things. She knows she can’t afford having him get mad at her again. And she doesn’t want to ruin his opening night.

“Kurt, let’s not jump to conclusions…”

“No, Rachel. What if you were right? What if he hasn’t changed since high school? And we’ve only been married a couple months, how do I know if he’s telling the truth or not?”

“Kurt,” she says. “Maybe he’s just been distant because he doesn’t know how much you care,” she replies, saying the first thing that comes to mind.

“You really think so?”

She nods fiercely, desperately wishing that to be true, and the other option to be false.

“Yep, I definitely think so. And you know what, I’m sure that whatever reason he has for being late, he has a good excuse for. Just give him the benefit of the doubt, Kurt.”

He swallows back tears.

“Okay, I will,” he says.

“I believe in you, Kurt. I know you’re going to kill it tonight. I’m gonna go sit down now, but stop worrying, okay? Everything’s gonna be fine.” She turns around and starts to walk out the door.

“Rachel,” Kurt calls quietly. She barely catches it.

“Yeah?” she asks.

“Thank you,” he replies, with a sad smile on his face. She returns the smile with a slight nod and exits the room. He inhales another shaky breath and tries coaxing himself into bravery. He is repeating relaxing words to himself, over and over again, in a type of meditation, when a small buzz from his phone breaks the silence. He looks down. It’s from Blaine.

Should I even open it?

He foolishly taps the notification twice to open it.

 

Sorry sweetie, it looks like I’m gonna be a little late to the show. I’m so sorry! Promise it won’t happen again. Last time, I swear.

Kurt breathes in and turns off his phone. Tears blur his vision as he thinks to himself. If he does manage to make it, I don’t want to know. It doesn’t matter anyways.

 

“So, do you boys wanna tell me what you were doing at this abandoned warehouse in the middle of the day?” The police officer looked at Blaine and Sam with a tired expression on his face. He already knew why they were there, but he was just following this as part of protocol.

“Look, officer,” Blaine began in a respectful tone. “We were just fooling around, looking for junk and stuff. We’re dumpster divers. It’s just something we do for fun.”

The policeman rolled his eyes, not believing a word.

“Look, I know what you two were doing. You were obviously there to hold an anti-Match meeting. But since I have no proof, I’m gonna let you guys go.”

“Wait, are you serious?” Sam asked incredulously. “You’re just gonna let us go that easily?”

“Well, there’s nothing that I can really do. You should be happy,” the officer grumbles. “Besides,” he whispers, “off the record, I never really approved of this whole required marriage thing either.”

By the time Sam and Blaine manage to get out of the police station, Kurt’s show is long over.

“Damn it Sam! We missed it! Kurt’s gonna kill me!” Blaine sits down on a random bench and puts his head in his hands.

Sam sits down next to him, slowly. “I’m gonna tell Mercedes.”

Blaine snaps his head up and looks at Sam as if he were crazy.

“What?! Why?!”  
“Blaine, we just missed your husband’s opening night on Broadway. There’s no good excuse for that. Everyone is going to wonder what happened, and we’re gonna have to tell them something. It should be the truth.”

“The truth, Sam? That we got arrested for scoping out a warehouse for an anti-Match meeting? You really want to tell them that we’re involved in that?”

“Yes! I do, I really do. This lie just keeps getting bigger and bigger! There’s no way we’re going to be able to keep it for much longer, anyways. I have to tell her.”

“Sam!”

“If you want, I’ll just tell her about me, not about you. But I really think you should come clean to Kurt, dude.”

Blaine sighs and closes his eyes. He breathes in deeply.

“Okay, I’ll tell him.”

 

When Blaine opens the door around midnight, he is surprised to see that Kurt still isn’t home. He looks at his phone. There are no missed calls or messages from him. Kurt was probably mad at him, but he should definitely be home by now. He tried calling his husband, but there was no answer. He leaves a few voice mails. Around one in the morning, he starts panicking. He’s pacing back and forth madly, praying for any sign of Kurt. He even called Rachel, who said she hadn’t seen him since the show. When he finally heard the door squeak open, he made a mad dash for his husband, throwing his arms around him.

“Kurt! It’s so late, I was worried!  Where on earth have you been?”

Kurt pulls back from Blaine’s grip and gives him a tired look.

“That’s a rich question coming from you,” he says sadly.

Blaine sighs, angry at himself.

“Look, I know that I missed your opening night, and nothing I say can really justify...”

But Blaine stops himself. He simply cannot let himself continue with Kurt standing there, looking heartbroken.

“What’s wrong,” Blaine asks in a quiet voice. “You must be tired, come sit and let me make you some tea.”

But Kurt simply stands in the doorway. Blaine pulls him in and shuts the door after them, but Kurt only walks in a few steps.

“You asked why I was so late,” Kurt says, his voice dry and rough.

Blaine shakes his head. “No, Kurt you don’t have to answer…”

“No, I do. I was looking everywhere to get you these,” Kurt says, pulling a beautiful bouquet from behind his back. Blaine melts, but is confused all the same.

“It was quite difficult, finding a florist that was open at this time of the night. But hey, it’s New York, so I managed.” Kurt hadn’t been looking at Blaine; he had just been staring at the floor. But then he tilted his head up and looked at Blaine with such an intensity, it made him shiver.

“Then I got a phone call. Apparently, you left your jacket at the police station.”

Blaine feels all of his blood rush out of him. He doesn’t say anything, he’s sure his eyes are saying it all at this point.

“I asked why you were there, and they said you were arrested. So then I called Sam.” Kurt closes his eyes. Blaine doesn’t take his eyes off of Kurt’s face.

“How long?” Kurt whispers shakily.

“What?” Blaine asks, in an equally unsteady tone.

“How long have you been lying to me?”

Blaine casts his eyes down to the ground and sighs.

“I’m not sure, maybe a couple weeks?”

Kurt chokes back a sob and closes his eyes again. Then, when he opens his them, he directs his gaze at Blaine. But it’s not an angry look, just a sad one. He hands Blaine the flowers and turns around, heading towards the door.

“I’m going to go now,” Kurt says. “Please don’t look for me for at least a day or two,” and then he slams the door shut. Blaine can hear his running footsteps down the hallway, and oh, how he wants to chase after him. But he knows he can’t.

 

It’s nearly 2am when Kurt shows up at Rachel’s door. He didn’t want to pick her, but she was right, they were best friends, in the end. He would’ve gone to Mercedes, but he figured that Sam would be there, and he didn’t want to see him either.

He starts pounding the door of 23B. Jesse opens it, looking tired, but not at all surprised. Kurt’s sure that he looks like a mess, or a complete lunatic, or both. He’s been running through the streets of Manhattan for the past half hour. Half of his costume makeup is still on. His hair is greasy and sticking up in all different directions, as a result of him running his hands through it at least fifty times that night, a gesture he’d done in worry, in panic, and in pain. His shirt is untucked and half unbuttoned, tie discarded long ago. His jacket is barely on, and somehow his shoelaces had become untied, and he hadn’t bothered to tie them again. He had almost tripped over them half a dozen times. A police officer had stopped him halfway between 22nd and Main, asking how much he had had to drink that night. But when Kurt started explaining the situation with his husband, the officer simply gave him a wrinkled napkin from his pocket to blow his nose on and let him go.

Jesse doesn’t give the judgmental, questioning look that Kurt expects from him. He simply puts an arm around Kurt’s shoulders and pulls him inside the apartment.

“Mercedes is already here.”

Kurt looks to the middle of the living room, where he sees Mercedes and Rachel sitting on the couch, digging into a carton of Rocky Road. Mercedes had obviously been crying, and she looks at Kurt in a mutual grief when he walks in.

“You didn’t know either?”

He shakes his head slowly. It’s all he can do.

Jesse speaks from where he’s standing.

“Alright, I’m going to get some more ice cream, seeing as Rachel and Mercedes have eaten through the two cartons we had. I’ll be back soon.”

He grabs his jacket and leaves. Kurt collapses on the ground in front of them and starts bawling. This is the first time tonight that he’s actually let himself cry. He didn’t want to in front of Blaine, didn’t want to give him that satisfaction. Mercedes and Rachel instantly go to pull him up and hug him. He inhales their perfumed, girly scents and relaxes a smidge. The subdued scents of lavender and peony that they’re wearing remind him of his mother.

“I’m so sorry, Kurt,” Rachel says.

“I would’ve never thought this could happen.” Mercedes sobs. “You think you know somebody…”

Kurt emerges from their all consuming hug. His face is red, from having trouble breathing, and his eyes are full of tears.

“No, I’m sorry Rachel. You were right. You were so right. I should’ve listened to you. I thought I knew Blaine, but I didn’t. I tricked myself into believing that everything would work, after all of our messed up history. I was naive, and stupid, and…”

“Kurt, this isn’t your fault. You can’t believe that. This is no one’s fault but theirs,” Mercedes says.

“God, what were they even thinking? Why did they do it?” Rachel asks.

“Well for Blaine,” Kurt says, sniffling, “it all started when the band played at Smythe’s stupid meeting. He met some girl, Marley, who told him her sob story about her awful husband, and I mean, even I felt sorry for her. But Blaine got all involved and he started going to these meetings. Then, he said he was gonna go to a riot, but I told him not to, because it was dangerous, but I guess he went anyways.” He was speaking in a low voice, trying to stop himself from crying but not being fully able to.

“It didn’t even bother me that much that he went, just that he lied about it. And he’s been lying for weeks! I don’t know how I can ever believe anything he says.”

“Well at least you know why,” Mercedes says. “For Sam, I don’t even know why he’s involved in all of this, or how it happened. We never talked about it, he never told me anything. I just got a stupid call from this girl named Kitty. She was trying to reach Sam. At first, I thought it was his mistress or something, but then she explained everything. God, I wanted to hurt him when he finally got home.”

“I found out when I got that stupid call from the police station,” Kurt says.

“Police station?! Why the hell were they there?!”

“Gosh, you don’t even know? Apparently they were arrested.”

“Arrested?!” Mercedes shrieks. She stands up. “He didn’t tell me that! I swear, I am gonna-” she starts heading for the door. Rachel jumps up and stops her.

“No! You know what? I am gonna go talk to them. Both of them! You two, stay here. I specifically told Blaine that if he hurt you, he would have hell to pay from me. Well he did it, and now he’s gonna see how far my wrath can reach.”

“Rachel, don’t,” Kurt says. She looks at him in surprise. “Just leave it alone for now. Honestly, they’re not even worth the trouble,” he says sadly.

“Kurt…” she trails off.

“No. I don’t want to think about him right now. I’m married to someone, and I don’t even know who they are. Right now, I want to sleep. I have a show tomorrow, and if I cry to much or don’t sleep, my performance is going to be wrecked.” Kurt takes a deep breath.

“You know, he didn’t even show up. Blaine didn’t even bother to come to his husband’s opening night. I’ve been to every one of his damn shows, and I even…” Kurt’s talking is interrupted by his own sobs. “I even…” he manages between his sharp inhales.

Mercedes puts a hand on his back to soothe him.

“Kurt, you what?”

“I changed my name,” he chokes out, and puts his head in his hands.

“You what?!” Rachel yells.

“Rachel!” Mercedes snaps at her.

“I th-thought it would be a cute surprise. So I f-filled out all the forms and stuff. I even got a new driver’s license and social security card. I’m officially Kurt Anderson-Hummel. Nice to meet you,” he says, and manages something between a sad laugh and another sob.

Rachel is staring at him in horror, mouth gaping. Mercedes simply puts her arms around him in a supportive hug.

“Okay, how about this, Kurt,” Rachel says. “Tonight, we relax and watch a movie. Let’s watch something that won’t make you guys think about Sam or Blaine at all.  Then you can sleep so you’ll be rested for your show tomorrow and I’ll go kick their asses.”

“Okay, that sounds alright,” Kurt and Mercedes agree.

When Jesse comes home half an hour later with a three more tubs of Ben and Jerry’s, he finds Kurt, Mercedes, and Rachel cuddled up on the couch, dead asleep, with Bullets Over Broadway playing in the background.

 

The next day, Blaine hears a pounding on the door. He groggily gets up from where he fell asleep- the kitchen floor- and goes to answer the door. He feels like crap. He looks at the microwave for the time. 5:45 am. He walks to the door to stop the banging noise that’s making his headache worse.

“So you were right, it was a terrible idea,” Sam says, barging in. He looks worse than Blaine does. His hair is sticky and reddish, like he spilled juice on it or something. His clothes are beyond wrinkled, and he smells like beer.

“I’m guessing she didn’t take it well when you told her,” Blaine says miserably.

“No, how could she have? She dumped a pitcher of strawberry lemonade on my head and started throwing kitchen supplies at me. I got hit in the face with tupperware, Blaine.”

“Well, you deserved it, didn’t you! We both did. Why were we so damn stupid?”

“I don’t know! How could we think lying was a good idea? What are we gonna do, Blaine. I hate myself right now.”

Blaine shakes his head pathetically.   
“I have no clue.”

“We just gotta win them back! Maybe we should come up with a song, that says how sorry we are!”

“You mean like the lie I told Kurt about what we were actually doing?”

“Oh yeah. Okay, so not the best idea. But we’ll come up with something. We have to! This can’t be it, man.”

“Well, I don’t know if you’ve met my husband, Kurt, but he can hold grudges for a pretty long time. He was mad at me for what happened in high school for seven years, Sam.”

“That’s true, and Rachel and Mercedes finally stopped being frenemies and started being real friends recently. They secretly hated each other forever.”

“Maybe we should just give them space, for now,” Blaine says sadly.

“NO! Okay, we can’t do that. You know what, I heard somewhere, that for every negative thing you do in a relationship, you just have to do seven positive things, and then the bad that you did will be erased. So, we just have to figure out the number of times we lied, multiply it by seven,” Sam clapped as if he was having an epiphany, “and that’s how many cupcakes we have to make them.”

Blaine shakes his head sadly.

“I don’t think it works that way, Sam.”

They hear a light knock on the door. Sam and Blaine look at each other in confusion and hope, and get up to answer.

“Who is it?” Blaine calls out.

“Who do you think it is bitches?!”

“Oh God,” Blaine says, opening the door. Sam and Blaine are not surprised to find Rachel behind the door.

She stomps in without being welcomed, arms crossed around her petite frame. No words are spoken, but that doesn’t matter. Both boys know what this meeting is about. She takes no less than five steps in and stops. Turning around, she faces them and simply raises an eyebrow as if to say “Alright, explain yourselves.”

Sam begins.

“Okay, Rach, I know that you’re probably pretty pissed. We hurt your friends, and now you’ve come for blood. But I feel absolutely awful about what happened. We feel awful,” Sam says, motioning between the two of them, “right Blaine?”

“Yes, absolutely horrible,” Blaine says, imploring forgiveness. “I know that there’s no excuse for what we did, but-”

“I’m going to stop you two right there. You guys don’t even know what you did, do you?” Rachel’s tone is harsh at the very least. She takes off her coat, as if she’s preparing to brawl.

“I was up with Kurt and Mercedes all night. You lied to them. You,” she said, pointing at Sam, “made Mercedes think that you were with another woman, the way you kept missing meetings and leaving her.”

“I would never-” Sam begins, but Rachel silences him with a finger.

“And you,” she points at Blaine, “missed your husband’s opening night, for the biggest role he’s ever had, probably the first he’ll win a Tony for.”

Blaine hung his head in shame.

“I detest you two right now. You’re deplorable, awful people. You both somehow were dumb enough to manage to ruin the best thing that’s ever happened to you. But,” Rachel closed her eyes and took a deep breath, “I didn’t come to yell at you guys this today.”

“But you just did,” Sam said, shaking his head in confusion.

“Shut up! Okay, listen. I’m gonna help you guys.”

“W-why?” Blaine asked. He wasn’t sure if he should be happy, or skeptical.

“Because, I was with them last night, alright? You didn’t see them. They were a damn mess. They must’ve eaten through like, five cartons of ice cream. And before you two assholes screwed it up, they were actually happy. Way happier than I’d seen them in a long time.” Rachel sighs. “So that’s why I’m going to help you two get them back.”

“You are?!” Sam asked incredulously.

Rachel looked as if she didn’t even believe herself.

“All I know is that my friends are sad. And the only way to make them feel better is to get them back together with you two idiots. I mean, thanks to this law, they can’t divorce you, so this is the next best thing, right?”

“You know,” Sam began, “it’s funny, because a lot of people would say that this is the first best option-”  
“Yeah, I don’t care,” Rachel interrupted. “Now, are we just going to sit here, or are we going to brainstorm?” 


	12. Sorry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blaine apologizes to Kurt

Kurt and Mercedes, in times of grieving, always picked up strange hobbies. When Mercedes lost her first job, they took up recycling their own paper out of receipts and using it to make origami. When Kurt had gotten laughed out of his first audition on Broadway, they got into glass bead blowing and selling jewelry on Etsy. Now was no different. Which perfectly explained why two young adults in their mid-twenties were in Central Park at 9am on a Sunday morning, playing a rousing game of chess, dressed in head to toe plaid, and speaking in British accents.

“Why, I do say, Kurt, that was a jolly good move on your part,” Mercedes said, waving her cane around in the air.

“Why, thank you, my dear Mercedes,” replied Kurt, sipping some Earl Grey from his teacup.

“Alright you guys, this is ridiculous. I can’t believe you guys are here right now.” Rachel was standing next to the small, foldable table where they were playing. She had her arms crossed and an indignant look on her face.

“Guys, look, I am on your side, okay. I completely understand where you’re coming from. But why don’t you at least try to see them, huh? It’s been a week and you haven’t spoken a word to them since… well you know… the incident.”

Mercedes looked up at Rachel.

“Why should we have to look for them? You tell me that. They’re the ones who screwed up. Why should we have to do anything? They’re the ones who need to apologize.”

“Well you haven’t exactly given them the opportunity to! How many times has Sam called you, Mercedes?”

“At least twenty times  a day.”

“And how many times have you answered?”

“None,” she says, but without a shred of guilt. “Anyone can just pick up a phone, Rachel. He needs to come to me if he wants me to accept his apology.”

“Alright,” Rachel said, mentally taking notes. “What about you Kurt?”

He looks at her through teary eyes. He hadn’t been able to stop crying for the entire week.

“I-I…”

“Kurt, come on. You know that you can talk to me,” Rachel said, patting him on the back.

“I don’t know,” he sniffled. “To be honest, I feel like I’m going to take him back. Part of me knows that I’ll have to forgive him eventually. I have to. I have to stay married to him, and I don’t want to be miserable. I just feel like I can’t forgive him, because, I don’t even know how he feels about me.”

_Alright, I can use this,_ Rachel thought to herself.

“You know what? You two have fun. I’ll meet you back at the apartment for dinner. Is that alright?”

“Yeah sure, fine,” Mercedes said snappily, while Kurt barely managed a slight nod.

 

Blaine and Sam are making pizza when they hear the pounding on the door this time. Blaine simply looks at Sam and nods his head in the direction of the door. They both know who it’ll be.

“Rachel! What a surprise!” Sam says sarcastically.

“Oh, hush,” she replies, and walks in while dropping her oversized purse on the couch.

“Well, I’m sorry if I’m a little snappy, but you’ve been coming over every day, and nothing you’ve suggested has worked so far.”

“That’s because you two assholes aren’t trying hard enough! Sam, you’ve called Mercedes, but have you actually tried to see her?”

Sam hung his head a little guilty.

“I’m too afraid of what she’d throw at me.”

“Exactly, you coward. And Blaine,” she said, putting her hands on her hips and looking at him. He avoided eye contact, instead focusing his gaze on the rolling out dough with a rolling pin.

“Look at me,” Rachel demanded.

He looked her in the eye for the first time that night. She noticed that his eyes were a fierce red color, as if he had been crying nonstop.

“Have you even tried taking to Kurt?”

He sighed and shook his head.

“No, I haven’t.”

“And why is that?”

“Because… well I don’t know what I’d say!” he proclaimed, flailing his hands around in the air. “I screwed up, insanely. I ruined the best thing that’s ever happened to me, and… and what am I supposed to say to that? How do you apologize for making the worst mistake you’ve ever made in your entire life?!”

Rachel looks at Blaine with a surprising amount of calm.

“Well, you can start by using your words. You could try talking to him. Maybe he’ll react differently than you assume he will.”

Blaine shakes his head.

“I can’t even ask him to forgive me, because I would never forgive something like what I did.”

“You wouldn’t forgive Kurt if he did the same to you?”

“I don’t know,” Blaine says quietly.

Rachel sighs and rolls her eyes as she throws her hands up in surrender.

“I can’t help you if you don’t want to be helped, Blaine Anderson. Do you even want Kurt back? Or are you just wasting my time?”

“No, I want him back, more than anything.”

“Well then go get him back! What the hell are you waiting for?!”

“Um, I don’t know about you guys, but I’m still clueless about what to do to win Mercedes back,” Sam announced.

Rachel sighed in frustration.

“You guys are so hopeless. Here’s an idea. Ask them to meet in a special place. Somewhere romantic. Bring flowers, or chocolates, or whatever,” she said, voice raising on the last word, “and win them back, or so help me.”

With that, she snatched up her giant-sized purse and left.

 

Mercedes picked up her phone reluctantly when it buzzed.

“God, I hope this isn’t Sam calling me again.”

“Oh, come on Mercedes. Why don’t you wanna see him?”

“Are you crazy? Do you want to see Blaine, Kurt?”  
“Yes, I do actually. Very badly. But unlike your man, mine hasn’t texted me or bothered communicating at all,” Kurt said, eyes shining with tears.

Mercedes looked at her best friend in pity.

“Kurt, I’m sure he’ll call or something…”

“No, Mercedes, stop making excuses for him. If he had wanted to call, he would’ve by now, and…” Kurt’s voice started breaking as he spoke, and Mercedes could tell he was about to start full-on crying. Thankfully, he was interrupted by his own phone buzzing. Kurt looked at it like it was some alien creature.

“Please tell me you’re going to pick that up,” Mercedes said.

Kurt reached over to pick up his phone, which was face down on the coffee table.

“Crap! It’s Blaine! He’s calling! Oh God, what do I do?!”

Mercedes rolled her eyes.

“Answer it!”

It stopped ringing before he could pick it up, but thankfully, a text message followed only a few seconds after. Kurt read it and looked at Mercedes with wide eyes.

“He wants to meet me to talk! At Central Park! Oh my gosh, that’s where we had our first kiss! I think he’s gonna apologize!”

“He better!” Mercedes exclaimed. “It’s about damn time that he-”

She was interrupted by her own phone vibrating. She rolled her eyes and picked the device up.

“Sam texted me, apparently he wants to meet and talk.”

Her eyes were full of disgust and anger, but Kurt’s shined with hope. She didn’t want to forgive Sam, but Kurt’s optimism was contagious.

“Since when were you this optimistic anyways? The Kurt Hummel I know always came with a side of sass and sarcasm.”

Kurt smiled mischievously.

“Well, that was Kurt Hummel. Kurt Anderson-Hummel, on the other hand, is a much happier fellow. And, he’s about to go get his husband back.”

 

They met later the next day, early in the morning. It was summer, and fairly warm for New York City, but a cooler breeze blew past, somehow bringing the scent of lavender, and making for an altogether delightful experience. Kurt was the first to arrive, and he waited hopefully at the bridge in Central Park when they had their first kiss.

When Blaine got there, holding the red and yellow roses behind his back, he saw Kurt and his heart swooped a little.

“Hey, Kurt.”

He turned around, eyes glimmering, and smiled slightly at Blaine. It was a smile full of pain, but still a smile nonetheless.

“Blaine,” Kurt said, voice barely above a whisper.

Blaine pulled the flowers from behind his back.

“These are for you,” he said simply.

Kurt accepted them and grasped the stems hard. Blaine was definitely glad that he had told the florist to cut the thorns off. His husband was holding them so hard, that his knuckles were turning white.

Kurt had so much that he wanted to say, but he waited for Blaine to start talking.

“Kurt, sweetie, I’m so sorry.” He grabbed one of his husband’s hands. “I know that nothing I say will ever be a good excuse for the way I treated you. And I understand if you want to hit me, or punch me, or say something nasty. I deserve all of those things, and more. I was a fool. I hurt you, and…” Blaine shook his head, tears forming at the corners of his eyes. “I’m just so sorry, Kurt.” He inhaled deeply.

“I know that me apologizing isn’t going to be enough, and I know that you probably feel like you can never trust me again. And I missed your opening night. God, I tried so hard to be there for that. And I feel like shit for being so distant, and not being supportive. I would really like to try and make this work, Kurt. Can I at least try to earn back your trust?”

Kurt nodded his head vigorously and closed the distance in between them for a tight hug. Blaine could feel the wetness of Kurt’s tears on his neck.

“I hate the fact that you felt you had to lie to me, and that you kept something from me, but I want to make this work too.” Kurt was speaking quietly in his ear, his voice broken by quiet sobs. “A-and I understand why you did it. I know that this was really important to you, a-and I just shut you down, and I-” Kurt’s crying had grown louder at that point. He was inhaling sharply and shallowly, and Blaine could see that he was on the verge of hyperventilating.

“Shh, Kurt, stop. It’s not your fault, this is all on me.” Blaine placed a comforting hand on his husband’s back and started rubbing circles to calm him down. The action didn’t work, and instead, made Kurt cry even harder. He clutched the front Blaine’s shirt, with a fist balled up tightly.

“I-I just thought I was going to lose you, because at first it seemed l-like you didn’t want to see me, and I thought that you were done with me, a-and I c-couldn’t bear to see you go-”

“Kurt, calm down honey. You’re starting to get hysterical.”

“I can’t help it!” he cried, sobbing even harder.

“Kurt, I was just trying to give you space. Of course I was gonna come back and apologize. I care about you so much.”

“Oh Blaine,” Kurt breathed out, putting his arms around Blaine and giving him a tight hug. Blaine gave him a light kiss on the forehead.

“I love you,” Kurt whispered.

Blaine stiffened.

“You… what?”

Kurt pulled back and looked him in the eyes.

“I said that I love you,” he replied, bringing his hand up to Blaine’s chest and smoothing out the wrinkles he had made in the shirt. He looked at Blaine with a hopeful look in his eyes, obviously expecting a response. But Blaine pulled away and took a few steps back. He seemed confused.

“Kurt, you really love me? How? I… I lied to you. And I missed your opening night, and I…”

“I know,” Kurt said, taking a step closer to Blaine, “but I can’t help myself. Yes, the thing you did was awful, but I love you, and one mistake can’t erase that.”

He reaches for Blaine again, to wrap him in another hug, but Blaine takes another few steps back.

“I...I,” he takes a deep breath. “Kurt, I don’t.”

Kurt looks at him, confused again, wrinkling his nose and furrowing his brow in a sad but adorable way.

“Don’t what?”

“I... don’t love you back.”

“W...What?”

“I can’t...I just don’t. I mean, I care about you, I like you and everything, but we haven’t even been together that long to say ‘I love you,’ and I… I don’t think I feel the same.”

“Oh…” Kurt said, taking a few slow steps backwards, almost tripping over nothing in the process.

“Kurt, wait…”

“I-I just thought that you… felt the same way I did… you really don’t…”

Blaine could see new tears forming in Kurt’s eyes.

“It’s nothing against you, it’s just that,” Blaine sighed, patiently searching for the right words. “It’s just that I haven’t really been able to think about you much lately. It’s hard to be filled with love when all I feel is hate.”

“Hate towards what, Blaine? Towards me?” Kurt managed to whisper, feeling more than devastated.

“No, towards these people, Kurt! These people who made us get married, who think they know what’s best for everyone! Aren’t you angry at them too?”

Kurt looked at Blaine incredulously.

“Well… yeah, but aren’t you at least a little thankful?”

“Thankful?! For what, Kurt? For having our lives ruined? For being forced to get married against our wills?”

Kurt crossed his arms, instantly moving from depressed to angry.

“Well, no, I was going to say that if that stupid Match law didn’t exist, we would’ve never gotten married. But apparently you’d rather have that, wouldn’t you?”

Blaine realized what he was saying.

“Kurt…”

“No, answer me this Blaine,” he said in a bitter tone. It was the first time that Blaine had seen Kurt truly angry in a very long time. “If tomorrow, they decided to revoke this Match law, and let everyone get their marriage annulled, would you do it? Would you leave me?”

Kurt was shaking at this point. His voice was flat, almost robotic as he spat the words out. Blaine was stunned into silence. He hadn’t thought about it that way, and he didn’t know how to respond.

“K-Kurt…”

He dropped the flowers at Blaine’s feet.

“It’s a simple yes or no question. It shouldn’t take you that long to answer.” His voice was cracking again, and Kurt knew that he was on the verge of crying.

“I...I still care about you…”

“But not enough to stay married to me.” It devastated Kurt to know that it wasn’t even a question, just a cold hard statement of truth.

Blaine didn’t say anything, just looked at Kurt with some sort of sad emotion in his eyes. Kurt decided that he had had enough for the day. He spun around on his heel and walked away, leaving Blaine standing on the bridge alone.

 

Kurt returned to Rachel’s apartment a few hours later, after wandering around and weaving in and out of bagel shops and quaint European bakeries all over New York City. When he got there, he found Rachel and Mercedes gabbing happily, laughing and talking as if everything were fine. When Jesse opened the door and let Kurt in, it didn’t take much time for the girls to see that something was wrong. There was an awkward silence for a few moments; no one wanted to confirm what everyone was thinking. Kurt finally cleared his throat and said something.

“So, Mercedes, how did your date with Sam go?”

He didn’t look her in the eyes, and his voice sounded raw- possibly from crying? She

hesitated, not wanting to sound too excited, for his sake.

“It went really well. Sam apologized, and he explained everything. He said that he was really sorry, and we’re gonna try and work things out.”

“That’s good,” Kurt responded, still not looking up. “Did you forgive him?”

“Yeah, I did, actually. I mean, he explained that a lot of it had to do with his little sister. She’s only eighteen, but she’ll have to get matched soon, and Sam just really wanted to save her from that.” Mercedes cleared her throat nervously. She wanted to ask, but didn’t dare. Rachel finally broke the silence.

“What about you, Kurt? How did your meeting go with Blaine?”

Finally, he looked up at them. His eyes were a burning red, as if he had been crying nonstop all day, or as if he had spilled shampoo in them.

“I don’t think I wanna talk about it,” he said, crossing his arms in a way to comfort himself.

“Oh, Kurt,” Rachel and Mercedes made a move to comfort him in a hug, but he backed away.

“No, it was a mistake coming here. I-I’m just gonna go. I’ll call you guys later or something.”

“Kurt!” Mercedes said, trying to stop him with her words. But he was already out of the door.

 

Kurt found himself at the theater, three hours early for rehearsal. He’s not quite sure why he came here, but he figured that as long as he was there, he might as well stay. He had been neglecting practice a little since the huge fight with Blaine, and it was about time he got back to work. He already knew all of his dance moves and songs, obviously, so he decided sing some songs from one of his favorite musicals, Gypsy.

He was halfway through Rose’s Turn, and doing wonderfully, he could tell, but he couldn’t stop thinking about Blaine. With every lyric, every twist and turn of his body, all he could think about was Blaine, how he had lied to him, betrayed him, missed his opening night. How Kurt loved him. And he didn’t think he was ever going to be able to stop. He tripped at one point, and fell on his ass, hard. He didn’t get up, even though he wasn’t in any serious pain. Kurt just laid on the ground, back on the wood floor, skin pressed up cool against it.

_So this is what real heartbreak feels like,_ thought Kurt. He had loved Blaine with everything that he had to give, with all his heart. And Blaine treated him like he was dispensable.

_Like I don’t even matter._

He hadn’t felt this worthless or unloved since sophomore year at McKinley, when, for a little while there, he actually toyed with the idea of killing himself. He didn’t feel that way now, not entirely. But he didn’t exactly feel good either. This didn’t even make sense! Kurt was the one who had hated Blaine for the longest time, who loathed the idea of marrying him. How had the tables turned? How had Kurt ended up the desperate one, the one who wasn’t loved in return? He thought he had escaped these feelings in high school.

He laid on the floor for a few hours, doing nothing but thinking to himself and singing said Sam Smith songs in a weak voice. When the other lead of the musical, Elliott, walked in for  rehearsal later, that’s how he found Kurt.

“Dude, are you okay?” he asked Kurt.

Kurt barely squints his eyes open at him.

“I think I’m dying.”

“Woah, from what?”

“From having my heart murdered.”

Elliott nodded in understanding.

“Blaine problems still going on?”

Kurt sighed and dramatically put an arm over his eyes.

“It’s like he ripped my heart out, stomped it on the ground, and did a Mexican hat dance around it.”

Elliott laughed.

“Come on, what happened? Do you wanna talk about it?” he asked, taking a seat on the stage floor.

Kurt sat up.

“Not really,” he said sadly.

“But, you’re going to anyways,” Elliott said.

Kurt started tearing up again.

“I told him that I loved him, and he said he didn’t love me. And then, I asked him if he would ever consider getting our marriage annulled. You know, if it were legal and stuff.”

“What’d he say?”

“He didn’t.”

“Ooh,” Elliott said, sucking in a breath. “That’s harsh.”

Kurt can’t even speak through the tears that are falling down his face, but he nods his head in agreement.

“So what are you gonna do now? To get him back?”

Kurt shakes his head.

“Nothing. There’s nothing I can do. I’m gonna be stuck in a marriage forever where my husband and I tolerate each other. Or no, actually, one where I love him, and he “likes” me back.”

Elliott puts an arm around Kurt’s shoulders.

“Come on, how about some coffee before rehearsal starts. Will that make you feel better?”

“It’s a start,” Kurt sniffles.

Later, when Kurt is in his dressing room changing, Elliott sneaks in and steals his jacket. He runs outside with it and grabs Kurt’s phone. It has a lock, but thankfully Elliott has looked over Kurt’s shoulder enough times to know what it is. He makes a phone call.

“Hello?”

“Hello! Hi, Blaine?” Elliott asks.

“Uh, yeah, this is him. Who’s calling?”

“This is Elliott. I’m one of Kurt’s friends and co-stars, you know, from the show.”

“Oh, um, okay.”

“Hey, where are you right now?”

“Um, why?” Blaine asks. He’s not sure how much information about his personal life he should give this Elliot guy. He’s never heard Kurt mention him before.

“Look, I don’t know everything that’s happening between you two, but I think you should come tonight. I think you should see your husband perform.”

“I...I don’t really know if he’d want me there.”

“Of course he does! He’s had a seat reserved for you every night!”

“He has?”

“Yes, dude. Now, stop being such an idiot and come support your husband. He’s kind of a wreck without you.”

Blaine sighs, not knowing what to say.

“I just…”

“Do you really not love him?” Elliott asks. “I know that I might be overstepping here, but I find it hard to believe that you don’t love him at least a little.”

Blaine can barely form a word in shock.

“I…”

“You know what, forget I asked. But dude, you gotta come tonight. Show starts at 7:00. When you get to the counter, just tell the guy your name, and say you’re here for Kurt Anderson-Hummel.”

“Okay, I guess I can… wait,” Blaine says, realization hitting him fully. “Did you just say Kurt _Anderson_ -Hummel?”

“Yeah dude, that’s your last name, right? Anderson? I personally wouldn’t have hyphenated, but I think it’s cute that you two did.”

Blaine’s fairly certain he’s in shock.

“Oh my gosh. Okay, yes, I’m coming, I’ll be right there.”

Elliott chuckled.

“I mean, you don’t have to come right now, the show doesn’t actually start for another three hours. But, you can come, like, an hour early. And I would bring flowers. Or chocolates. Or both. Anyways, bye! See you then. Oh! And also, try not to mention this to Kurt. He doesn’t know that I stole his phone, and he told me to stop prying into his private life when I started grilling him on his sex life.”

“O-okay…” Blaine trailed off, not really knowing how exactly to respond.

“Great! See you then!” Elliott hung up the phone. Yeah, Kurt wasn’t gonna be happy when he found out what he did. But, what the hell, hopefully the new Kurt could appreciate good intentions.

A few hours later, Blaine was in his seat at the theater. The show had just finished, and he was ecstatic to the point of crying. Kurt had been amazing. Blaine had never been more impressed with Kurt. He sang perfectly, so full of emotion and vigor. As soon as the curtain closed for the final time, Blaine got up and ran backstage. Elliott had promised him that he could see Kurt after the show. He had brought flowers and chocolates, as per Elliott’s suggestion, but he doubted that they would help much. When he got to Kurt’s dressing room, he knocked on the door, a quiet tap at first.

There was no answer.

He waited a few seconds, then knocked a little louder.

“Kurt?”

After knocking a few more times and waiting, he finally tried the doorknob. It opened, and he looked inside the small room. It was empty. He looked around for a sign that Kurt had at least been there.

“Are you looking for Kurt?” Elliott popped his head in the doorway.

“Yeah, where did he go?” Blaine asked.

“He ran out of here pretty quickly after the show ended. I think he said he was gonna go home.”

“Okay, thank you so much Elliott. And by the way, great job tonight!” Blaine shouted as he was running out the door.

“Good luck!” Elliott shouted after him.

 

Blaine broke out into a run. He took the route he knew that Kurt would walk to the subway each day. The streets were practically empty, but it didn’t help that it was raining. He ran as fast as he could, shouting Kurt’s name. This went on for about ten minutes, until he smacked into someone and fell on the ground.

“Oof!”

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry!” Blaine exclaimed, reaching out to help the stranger up.

“Kurt!” Blaine exclaimed when he saw who the man was. His husband was drenched in water. Obviously he had been walking in the rain for some time, and apparently Blaine had pushed him into a puddle. But on top of that, he looked miserable. Kurt stood up and looked at Blaine in the eyes, but didn’t say a word. Blaine stuttered all over his.

“Kurt, w-wait. I-I came to your show! I-it was amazing. You were amazing. I-I… can’t believe that I…” Blaine suddenly wrapped his arms around Kurt in a warm hug. Kurt, however, immediately stiffened and backed away.

“I’m gonna go home. I’m tired, and I need sleep,” Kurt said, about to turn around.

“Kurt! Please, hear me out.” Kurt stopped and adjusted his duffel bag strap on his shoulder. He wiped the rain out of his eyes, and then crossed his arms as he looked at Blaine.

“I’m so sorry. I should never have lied to you. And I’m extremely sorry for what I said earlier. The truth is, I do love you. I was being stupid before, and I wasn’t thinking. You mean more to me than anything else. Especially this stupid Match law. In fact, I’m glad that it exists, because it brought us together. I promise, I’ll never go to another damn meeting again, just please, don’t be angry with me anymore. I don’t think I can take it anymore. I honestly have never been happier than when I was with you.”

Kurt raises an eyebrow.

“You can’t take this anymore? Blaine, how am I supposed to believe anything you say anymore? I can’t trust you.”

“Kurt,” Blaine said, voice breaking. “Please, just give me another chance. I swear I won’t lie again. I love you, please…”

Kurt holds up a hand.

“Stop begging,” he says. The icy tone from when they were in high school is back. “I can’t stand it when people beg. Let’s just go home. It’s raining and I don’t wanna get sick.”

“You’re coming back home?” Blaine inquired.

“Well, I can’t stay at Rachel’s forever. I got these looks from Jesse every time I opened their refrigerator looking for more ice cream. He’s so judgy. I burn it all off in rehearsals anyways.”

Blaine smiles a little.

“This doesn’t mean that everything’s good between us all of a sudden. No, quite the contrary. I’m still mad at you.” Kurt stomped off. Blaine followed behind, but made sure to stay a few steps behind him. When they got home, Kurt walked towards his room.

“You’ll be sleeping in your own room tonight,” he said. Then he slammed the door.

“Of course,” Blaine said, even though no one could hear him. How had he screwed this up so badly? He went from being the one who was chasing Kurt, to actually having Kurt say that he loved him. And then he messed that up, and now had to find some way to show Kurt he actually was sorry. Blaine went to bed that night, a little restless, scheming of all the things he could do to win his husband over (again).

 

Blaine was baking muffins the next morning. He knew it wouldn’t fix everything, but it was a start, right? And if he what Sam said was true, about having to do seven nice things for every bad thing to fix a relationship, than Blaine figured he might as well get started.

Kurt came stumbling out of his bedroom an hour later. He took a curious look at what Blaine was doing, which currently was cutting up fruit for a fruit salad. Blaine turned his gaze to him and gave him a shy smile.

“Wait,” Blaine said. “Are you limping?”

“Yeah,” Kurt replied as he neared the island slowly. “Last night after the show some crazy psycho bowled me over.”

Blaine freezes as he realizes what Kurt is talking about.

“Oh my gosh, Kurt! I am so sorry! Why didn’t you tell me I hurt you? Here, let me get you an ice pack,” he says, as he heads to the freezer.

Kurt clears his throat quietly as he mumbles, “it’s fine.”

“No! It’s not fine,” Blaine replies. He approached Kurt slowly with a pack of frozen peas. “Sorry, we didn’t have an ice pack. This is the best I can do. Do you wanna sit down?”

“Uhh…” Kurt turned and glared at the couch. “It’s kinda far away. I don’t think I’ve quite built up the stamina to walk again. I’ll just lean against the counter,” he said.

“No, you have to rest it. Otherwise you won’t be ready to perform again tonight. Here, let me help.” He bends over and goes to pick Kurt up.

“Blaine!” he protests, as his husband carries him to the couch. Blaine gingerly sets him down, then puts the pack of frozen peas on his ankle.

“Is that better?” he asks.

“Uh, yeah,” Kurt says, trying to sound nonchalant. He was still upset at Blaine, but he’d be lying if he said that Blaine’s doting didn’t leave him a little breathless.

“Here, I’ll bring you a muffin and some fruit. It was my grandmother’s recipe,” he says as he walks towards the kitchen. He comes back with a cranberry orange muffin and a small bowl of fruit on a plate. He hands the plate to Kurt and sits across from him, on the edge of the coffee table.

“I’m really sorry that I tripped you. I didn’t mean to,” Blaine says. Kurt briefly looks up at him from his plate, then breaks eye contact immediately.

“I know,” he replies, looking out the window. It’s  a beautiful New York morning. The loft lets in a lot of light, with it’s tall windows that nearly take up an entire wall. It’s 10 am, and the sun illuminates his husband’s face and eyes that he can’t stop looking at, even if those eyes won’t look at him in return.

“Kurt,” Blaine says, breathing in deeply. “I’m really sorry. I… I don’t know what else to say. I don’t know what I was thinking when I said I didn’t love you. I do, honestly. You have to believe me.”

Kurt leans forward a little. His voice wasn’t angry, or exasperated, like Blaine expected it to be. It was just sad, and a little tired, like a voice recovering from heartbreak.

“Blaine, I don’t know how to believe you anymore. I feel like from now on, I’m always going to be second guessing everything you say.”

“No,” Blaine shakes his head. “I don’t want that for us. That wasn’t my intention.”

“I know,” Kurt says. “And I understand that getting rid of this match law is really important to you. I want it gone too. But, I don’t know, part of me feels like you were right when you said that we haven’t been together very long to be in love.”

“I was being foolish, I-”

“No, you weren’t. You were being honest. And I wanna be honest with you. Right now, there is nothing that I want more than to fall back into your arms and forget that this whole thing ever happened. But I can’t do that. I don’t even think that would be healthy for my sanity. Blaine, maybe we should take a break.”

Blaine’s eyes open wide as he laughs in disbelief.

“Kurt, we’re married. It’s not like we’re dating, we can’t just take a break.”

“No, I know, what I mean is that, maybe we should just go back to being friends for a little while? And then I can learn to trust you that way! I mean, I don’t think that I can do it any other way, Blaine…”

“No, it’s fine,” Blaine says, voice breaking ever so slightly. He wipes away a small tear from his face. “Let’s um, let’s do things your way. I want to.” He stands up from where he’s sitting on the coffee table and heads to the kitchen.

“I’m just gonna be over here, for when you need me,” _or if you ever want me again._ “Just call my name and I’ll be there.”

 

 


	13. Divorce?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blaine and the band go on tour, Kurt and Blaine try to patch their relationship.

Kurt didn’t know why he was surprised when Blaine was waiting for him in his dressing room after the night’s show ended.

“Blaine, you don’t have to come to my show every night. You know that, right?” Kurt asked as he closed the door and began to remove his makeup.

Blaine was sitting on the small, orange couch in the room, and he was holding a bouquet of red roses, just like the way he had been greeting Kurt every night for the past three and a half months. He stands up and walks towards Kurt.

“I know, but what can I say? You’re just so good at what you do, and I love seeing you up there. You have no idea how much I love it. How much I love you,” Blaine said, sneaking up behind Kurt and wrapping his arms around his waist in a tight hug and resting his chin on Kurt’s shoulder. Kurt didn’t back away.

Lately, he had been trusting Blaine a little more. True to his word, he had given up the anti-Match meetings, even though Kurt had never asked him to. In fact, Kurt had encouraged him to go, at one point, but Blaine said no. It had been several months since the incident, and Kurt was starting to believe that he was really getting over it. They looked at themselves in the mirror for a few moments.

“Plus, in a few more weeks, I’ll be gone on tour promoting the album, along with the rest of the band, and I don’t want to miss a single moment with you.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me. Who’s gonna make breakfast for me for the three months that you’ll be gone?”

Blaine chuckles.

“Well you could hire a cook. We make enough money now.”

It was true. Kurt, being a lead in a show on Broadway was making decent money. And Blaine’s band had released their album, and it was an instant success. Their song had been playing on the radio for weeks. Kurt was almost sick of it. Well, he would be, except for the fact that he knew the song was a love ballad about him, written by Blaine.

Also, a lot of women, for whatever reason, assumed that Blaine was straight. It was impossible to count the number of times they had gone to a mall, or a Subway, and experienced women throwing themselves at Blaine. Then again, Blaine endured the same kind of torture with Kurt, except it was men throwing themselves at him. Needless to say, they had to get over a few petty jealousy issues for a while.

They walked back home enjoying comfortable conversation.

“You looked really good up there tonight,” Blaine said. Kurt rolled his eyes. Blaine told him this every single night, without fail. But tonight he decided to play along. He felt particularly loose tonight, mainly due to the splash of vodka that Elliott had snuck into his post-performance shake. But Kurt didn’t know that.

“Well, what can I say?” He grabbed one of Blaine’s hands, and held the roses with the other. He walked with a slight skip in his step and swung his arms a little.

“It’s just that, gosh, there was this hot little piece watching me in the audience, and I just wanted to give him a good show.” Kurt gave his husband a smirk and winked. It took a few seconds for Blaine’s expression to go from shocked, to confused, to pensive, to finally, realization.

“O-oh,” was all he could manage.

“Yeah, I know. I was hoping to get his number, but turns out, like all the other good ones, he’s married.”

“Well,” Blaine said. “Maybe you’ll get lucky tonight and find another… hot piece.”

Kurt’s smile got a little brighter. He wasn’t sure if Blaine understood what he was insinuating or not, but he kept it going.

“Yeah, I hope I’ll get lucky tonight too.”

Alright, so maybe the vodka was making Kurt a little more than loose. It was making him insanely cheesy, and downright horny. Let’s face it, Kurt was a complete lightweight.

When they arrive at the apartment, Kurt shocked Blaine further by pinning him against a wall as soon as the door was closed. He grabbed Blaine’s waist and held him tightly. Blaine squirmed and laughed a little, still not fully understanding what was going on.

“Kurt, what are you doing?”

“Shh,” he replied, pressing himself against Blaine and kissing him firmly on the lips. “You’re ruining it.”

“Ruining what?”  
“The moment, Blaine.” He kissed sloppily along his jaw, and when he got to Blaine’s ear, he whispered, “I want you.”

“Wha-?” Blaine was interrupted with another fierce kiss from Kurt. He struggled to catch

his breath. This was definitely not at all how he saw this scenario happening.

“Are, um… oh!” he says, temporarily distracted by Kurt, who is moving his lips along his neck.

“Are what?” Kurt mumbles against Blaine’s skin.

“A-are you sure about this? Right now? You’re not still too mad?”

Kurt breaks away and allows Blaine to catch his breath.

“Honestly? I was mad at you, for awhile. And I’m still not over it completely, but I love you. And you’re going to be gone soon, and I’m not going to see you again for awhile. I just want to enjoy the time that we have left together.”

“Aw, Kurt. That’s so sweet, I-”

He doesn’t wait for Blaine to finish his sentence, just pushes forward and kisses him again. Blaine is getting lost in the hypnotizing duet that Kurt’s tongue and hips are performing. His lips are relentlessly moving against Blaine’s, and his hips- oh gosh… wait-

Blaine realizes his cell phone is vibrating. Kurt tears away from him and looks at Blaine’s pocket.

“Are you going to answer that?”

“Uh, well… I mean, I can just ignore it, probably just Sam…”

“No, answer it! Blaine, what if it’s something important?” He digs into Blaine’s front pocket and slips his phone out before Blaine can stop him.

“Hello?” Kurt answers. “Oh hi Sam! What are you doing right now?”

“Kurt!” Blaine protests, but just as he reaches for his phone, Kurt twists away, keeping it out of his reach. He takes a few steps away from him.

“Uh huh, that’s so interesting. You know, Blaine and I were about to do something interesting too!” Sam says something and Kurt giggles.

_Oh my gosh,_ Blaine groans inwardly. _He’s drunk._ Blaine feels stupid for not realizing this before. He turns his attention back towards Kurt.

“Yeah Sam! We should totally go on vacation together! The three of us! It’s interesting that you say you want to experiment, because I’ve always thought that you were pretty attractive too, and… oof!” Blaine tackles Kurt onto the sofa.

“Kurt, give me the phone!” Blaine says, reaching for Kurt’s outstretched arm.

“Nope!” Kurt yells in response. But then Blaine starts to tickle him. He didn’t think it would have very much affect. Apparently, Kurt is extremely ticklish.

“Stop!” He screamed in a shrill voice, laughing infectiously. When Blaine had weakened him enough, Kurt rolled off the couch. Blaine succeeded in pulling the phone out of his limp hand.

“That was so unfair Blaine!”

“Hello, Sam?” Blaine said into the phone.

“Hey dude! So, the whole vacation idea? Totally won’t go through with it if you’re uncomfortable. And oh, I’m sorry if I interrupted anything between the two of you.”

“Please don’t tell me this is why you called, Sam.”

“No dude! Of course not! I’ve got a way better reason than that! It’s about Sebastian Smythe!”

“Um, how is that better, exactly?”

“Dude, because he won the election! He’s going to try and get the Match law revoked! But in the meantime, he asked us to come and play for his victory party!”

“Oh, uh, that’s great news, I guess.”

“Yeah! Look, I know that this is kind of a hard place for you and Kurt, and for me and Mercedes. I asked her, and she said it was alright, but why don’t you ask Kurt and see what he thinks? You know, before we accept and ruin our marriages again.”

“Well, I would, but I don’t think he’s fully capable of answering right now. He’s a little… d-r-u-n-k,” Blaine says, spelling it out.

“I can understand what you’re spelling!” Kurt yells from his place on the floor, raising a finger indignantly. “And I am not drunk! I didn’t even have anything to drink tonight, except for my post-performance juice!”

_Elliott,_ thought Blaine.

“Look Sam, why don’t I just ask him tomorrow morning when he’s sober? I’ll call you back then?”

“Alright, but not a moment after. The guy wants me to give him a reply pretty soon.”

“Okay,” said Blaine. “Goodnight Sam.” Blaine hangs up the phone. He grabs one of Kurt’s hands and pulls him up.

“Come on, Kurtsie. We are going to bed.” Kurt drapes one of his arms around Blaine’s shoulders.

“But I don’t wanna go to bed.”

“Oh, sure you do. You just don’t know it yet.”

 

The next morning, Kurt found himself lying in Blaine’s bed, legs tangled around his husband’s. He had the slightest headache, although he couldn’t remember drinking any alcohol last night.

“Blaine?” he asked groggily.

His husband stirred in his sleep and murmured, “hmm?”

“What happened last night?”

Blaine sat up slowly, opening his mouth to give a big yawn.

“Well, you gave a great performance, as usual. Then, I think Elliott slipped a little something in your juice, and you got kinda silly.”

Kurt’s eyes were wide in horror.

“W-what?!”

Blaine gave a light, breathy chuckle, still not having fully come out of his sleep.

“What exactly did I do last night?” Kurt asks his husband, an adorably worried expression on his face.

Blaine decides that it’s better for Kurt not to know everything that happened last night.

“Oh, you know, just silly stuff, but nothing too stupid.”

Kurt eyes Blaine suspiciously.

“Okay… wait!”

_Crap, he remembers_ , thinks Blaine.

“Didn’t Sam ask about performing somewhere?”

“Oh, right.” Right. “Yeah, so apparently, that Smythe guy won the election.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“You do?” Blaine asked, surprised.

“Well of course. I was following his campaign. I mean, I’ve always been against this Match law from the start, too.”

“Right,” says Blaine. “Well, apparently he’s throwing a victory party, and he wants us to play.”

“Oh, well that’s great!”

“Yeah, well it would be, but Sam hasn’t accepted yet.”

“Well why not?”

“Because he wanted me to make sure if it was okay with you first.”

“Why would I have to approve…”

Kurt furrows his eyebrows as he’s thinking, then raises them in realization when he understands what Blaine is saying. He hesitantly reaches forward and grabs one of Blaine’s hands. They are both sitting at this point, Kurt with his legs folded criss cross, and Blaine with his folded under his himself. It’s around 11 o'clock in the morning, but it’s overcast, so there’s just enough grey light filtering in, and not an obscene amount pouring through their curtains.

“I want you to go.”  

Blaine pauses before answering, just to make sure that he actually heard right.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes Blaine. I think that this is a good opportunity for you band. And Smythe had nothing to do with what happened. Honestly, what happened doesn’t even bother me anymore.”

“Seriously?” Blaine asked incredulously. “It doesn’t? Not at all?”

“Well,” Kurt huffed out a laugh. “Maybe it bothers me a little from time to time, but I’m mostly over it. It’s hard to keep thinking about the one bad thing you did for a little while, when for the past three months you’ve been coming to my every show, making me breakfast every morning, and always letting me pick the movie for movie night.”

“That last one is a pretty huge deal.”

“It is!” Kurt exclaimed. “And I know that this is still important to you. You guys should play.”

“But Kurt, I… I just don’t wanna make you upset.”

“You won’t, you have my word. I’ll be fine.”

Blaine sighed.

“Okay, let me call Sam.”

 

In the end, the performance at Congressman Smythe’s party went very well. Kitty was there, and she talked to Blaine, but she knew better than to ask if he wanted to get involved or not. Kurt enjoyed himself talking to Mercedes, who was glad to see that he and Blaine had mainly made up.

“Are you going to miss Sam when he’s away?” Kurt asked Mercedes.

“Yeah,” she said, “but I’ve got more than enough going on to keep me busy. Are you going to miss Blaine?”

“Yeah, I will. You know, we were going slow for a while, just acting like friends, but I feel ready to try and be close to him again. Which is ironic because I’m finally ready for that now that he’s leaving for three months.”

“Well you know what they say, absence makes the heart grow fonder.”

“Yeah,” Kurt sighed, “I’m sure it will.”

At that moment, Sebastian came up to the two of them.

“Why hello Kurt, Mercedes.” He nodded to the both of them. “I’m so glad you could make it to my party.”

“Well, we’re glad to be here, Sebastian,” Mercedes said.

“Don’t worry about anything, I intend to keep my word about everything I promised during my campaign. We will get rid of this match law.”

“That’s awesome, Sebastian. Really looking forward to the day when we can actually be a free country again.”

“Of course. And when we do get this law abolished, and it’s legal to get divorced again,” Sebastian said, reaching into his jacket pocket and pulling out a small piece of paper resembling a business card. He slipped it into Kurt’s jacket pocket and continued,  “...feel free to give me a call, honey.”

Sebastian gave him a smirk with a wink and walked away.

Mercedes cackled as Kurt watched him walk away in horror, mouth agape. He could feel the bile rising up in his throat.

“Gotta give him props, the man doesn’t waste any time,” Mercedes said.

“Can you believe the nerve!” Kurt replied.

“So are you gonna use that number?”

Kurt reached into his pocket and ripped up the card.

“Most definitely not.”

 

A few weeks later, mere days before the tour, Kurt and Blaine were cleaning the apartment together. It was Sunday, and they had the radio on loud, blasting 70’s music. The song playing right now was “Bennie and the Jets,” an old favorite of theirs. Kurt was singing while washing the windows and swirling his hips in time, while Blaine was twirling on the wooden floors and using the mop as a dance partner.

When the chorus played the second time around, they both yelled “Bennie and the Jets!” particularly loudly. Kurt was so distracted that he didn’t notice the pigeon flying towards him, and screamed when it hit the window with a loud smack! and fell to the ground. Blaine, startled, slipped on some soapy mop water and fell on his bum.

“Oh my gosh!” Kurt ran over to Blaine, extending a hand to help. “Are you okay?”

Blaine groaned.

“Yeah, just hurt my pride,” he said as Kurt pulled him up. “Well, that and this mop handle.”

Kurt holds up one half of the mop handle that was now broken in two.

“Well, I guess we’re done with mopping for the day.”

“Yeah,” Blaine chuckled as he took a step forward to pick up the other half of the handle. He slips again, and Kurt moves quickly to grab him around his waist to prevent him from falling again.

“Woah! Are you okay?” he asks.

“Yeah,” Blaine replies and turns around in Kurt’s arms. “Better now that I’ve got you right where I want you,” he says flirtatiously.

Kurt opens his mouth in surprise. Blaine ran his hands up the sides of Kurt’s arms and lowered his voice.

“You know Kurt, in a week and a half, I’m going to be leaving for a whole three months, and I’m really gonna miss you a lot.

Kurt found that his voice was suddenly dry.

“I… I’ll miss you too.”  

Blaine smiles.  

“Really?” he asks.

“Um, I mean, yeah, but I’m sure you won’t miss me too much; you’ll have Sam, and Santana, and Tina, and all of your adoring fans. I’ll just be an afterthought.”

“Oh Kurt, you know that’s not true. And while those fans are nice, you and I both know they no one can compete with you.”

Kurt blushed.

“You really… Blaine, I… I don’t know what to say.”

“You don’t have to say anything, Kurt. Why don’t you let me be the one to talk right now?”

Blaine’s was intensely looking into Kurt’s eyes, and Kurt still had his arms wrapped around Blaine’s torso, supporting him from the almost fall.

“I know that the past few months have been pretty hard for us, and I’m so happy that you actually gave me another chance. But I just want you to know, that I never stop thinking about you. Yeah, for awhile, I was foolish, and let my support for a cause get in the way of our relationship. But I will never let that happen again.”

Blaine puts one hand on Kurt’s chest. Kurt can feel his heart beat a little faster.

“Nothing will ever get between us again. Not even this tour, because when I’m up on stage, all I ever think about is you. With every lyric that I sing- in all of my songs, you’re that beautiful lover, or the pair of haunting, soulful blue eyes, or face that I just can’t get enough of. You inspire me, Kurt. You make me want to be better, you make me happy, you make me want to try. And now that I have you,” Blaine says, taking Kurt’s hands in his, “I don’t think that I can live without you.”

Kurt is tearing up at this point. He can barely speak.

“I… I”

“Kurt, you don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to,” Blaine says. Kurt nods furiously and wraps his arms around Blaine’s neck, pulling him in for a close hug. They stay like that for a few moments, standing in their living room in a puddle of soapy mop water, afternoon sunlight streaming in.

“Thank you, for saying those things,” Kurt said.

It wasn’t I love you, or a confession of his deepest feelings, but it was a start. Blaine would take anything he could get.

“You don’t have to thank me for that, Kurt. I’m just being honest, something I should’ve done a long time ago. Hopefully we can always be like this.”

“I hope so too,” Kurt whispered.

 

 

Blaine and the rest of the band were almost done with their tour when they heard the news. They were currently in LA, and Sam and Blaine were sitting in their beds in their hotel room, talking about song selection when Tina burst in yelling.

“Oh my gosh guys! Did you hear the news!”

The boys both looked at her quizzically.

“No, we have no idea what you’re talking about,” Sam said.

Santana walked in behind her.

“They did it! They finally repealed the Match law!”

“Are you serious?!” Sam yells, getting up and jumping on the bed.

“You bet,” Santana says, walking in behind Tina. “Now you can finally dump the Keebler elf, Blaine. They’re letting everyone who was married because of the law get divorced with no questions asked.”

“Guys, I’m not getting divorced. Just like I know that none of of you are. I love Kurt.” Blaine said, raising an eyebrow in Santana’s direction.

“He’s right, I’m not getting rid of Mike,” said Tina.

“Yeah, and Mercedes and I are staying together no matter what. We’ve talked about it,” Sam said.

“Okay, well I’m staying with Brittney too, but I think Blaine might want to reconsider,” Santana said.

“And why is that?” he asked.

“Hmm,” Santana said, crossing her arms. “I don’t know. Why don’t you call your hubby right now and ask him? He’ll probably be too busy humping Sebastian to answer. Oh wait, well actually, you can look right here.” She held up an issue of People magazine, turned to a page about Sebastian. The article’s title read “Congressman Smythe divorces husband, has a new fling after abolishing law. The picture was of Sebastian and Kurt. Kurt had his arms wrapped around Sebastian, and it looked like they were exiting a party. Kurt looked like he was laughing, and Sebastian’s face was twisted in a smarmy smile.

“Oh come on, Santana,” Sam said. “They’re just… I don’t know, hanging out. It’s probably not even anything serious, right Blaine?” Sam looked at him, but Blaine’s facial expression was still, looking at the magazine. Suddenly, he broke forward and ran out the door. Santana turned towards the others and shrugged.

Blaine kept running until he was out of the hotel and several streets away. He ran until he was panting heavily. Taking out his phone, Blaine dialed Kurt’s number, which was on speed dial. They had been talking practically every other night. But today, the phone rung, and rung, and rung.

“Come on Kurt, pick up,” Blaine sighed exasperatedly. He got Kurt’s voicemail, so he decided to leave a message.

“Hey honey, so I just saw something in a magazine about you and Sebastian. Do you care to explain what it’s about? I love you, call me when you get a chance.”

He hung up the phone and dialed Rachel, who picked up immediately.

“Blaine!” she yelled into the phone. “How are you? How’s the tour going?”

“Rachel! Have you seen Kurt lately?”

“Hmm, not since last weekend, no. Why?”

“Have you seen the latest issue of People magazine?”

“No, why? Ugh, did Andrew Rannell’s say I was bossy again? Because I was just being helpful! And he totally deserved every word I said-”

“No Rachel! Just google Sebastian Smythe’s name.”

“Sebastian Smythe? What’s he got to do with anything?”

“Just do it Rachel.”

“Okay,” she says skeptically. He can hear her typing on a keyboard. She gasps.

“Blaine, oh my gosh, I had no idea. I’m so sorry. W-what happened? I thought you guys were good?”

“We were! I don’t know what happened. And he won’t answer his calls, and I…” Blaine starts choking up.

“Blaine! Calm down, okay? Don’t worry about a thing. I’m gonna talk to him. I’ll see what’s going on for you. Gosh, this is so unlike Kurt. I’m sure he didn’t mean to hurt you. And you’re coming back in five days, right? So you’ll see him then, and then I’m sure he’ll be able to explain everything.”

“Oh gosh, I hope you’re right, Rachel.”

 

It turned out that Kurt never called him back. He had sent Kurt several texts everyday, but Kurt didn’t respond. He texted Rachel.

Kurt’s not responding to any of my texts!

I know, he hasn’t texted me back at all either! she replied.

Blaine was starting to worry at this point. When they arrived at La Guardia a few days later, Blaine said goodbye to the others and rushed into a taxi cab as fast as he could , giving the driver his address.

He rushed up the stairs to their apartment. When he swung open the door, he yelled as loudly as he could.

“Kurt? Honey, are you home?” He drops his suitcase and runs into the bedroom, then the kitchen. He’s not home. Blaine sits down at the couch and drops his head in his hands. He’ll have to come home eventually, right? Something on the coffee table catches his gaze. A manila envelope is resting there, the only thing on the wooden table besides the small potted cactus. Blaine picks it up and unwinds the string latch, turning it upside down and opening the mouth to let the papers slip out. He extends one hand with the intention of catching them, but as soon as he reads the first words, his shock freezes him, and the documents  slip through his fingers and onto the ground.

Divorce papers.

 

When Sam came over to the apartment later, he found Blaine sitting on the couch in fetal position. He was sobbing in a choked up manner, and he wouldn’t look up at Sam. The door was unlocked, so he had been able to just walk in.

“Blaine, hey buddy, are you alright?” Sam asked.

Blaine didn’t look up or say anything. He just sobbed harder.

“Hey, it’s alright. What happened? Do you wanna tell me why you’re so upset?”

Blaine dares himself to look up at Sam, knowing he must be a wreck. Sam gasps. Blaine must’ve been crying for hours. His face was all red, and his eyes were burnt with tears. When he spoke, his voice was raw. He leaned over and picked up a piece of paper and handed it to Sam. He barely held onto it, grasping it between two fingers as if it were some sort of poison. Sam grabbed it and read.

“I came home, expecting to find him here, but the only thing I found were those,” Blaine said, voice cracking.

“Divorce papers?” Sam asked, bending to the ground and picking the rest up in confusion. “But Kurt loves you! Why would he divorce you?”

“I don’t know,” Blaine croaked. “I mean you saw those pictures from the magazine. What if he really is over me? What if he is dumping me for Sebastian?”

“Blaine, there is no way that’s possible. Did you try calling him?”

“Of course I did Sam! That was like the first thing I tried. He hasn’t been answering any of my calls, or Rachel’s! It’s like he’s dropped off the planet of the earth.”

Sam gasped.

“You don’t think that he’s been kidnapped or anything?!”

Blaine rolls his eyes.

“No Sam, I don’t.”

“There’s gotta be some kind of clue around here!” Sam starts slowly walking through the apartment.

“Sam, what if he left me? What am I going to do with myself? I-”

“Well you can stop the pity party, because I have found our first clue!” Sam yells from the kitchen. He walks back over to the couch and hands a small, white square of stationary to Blaine.

 

_Dear Blaine,_

_I’m sorry I wasn’t home to greet you, but I was busy preparing some things. I hope that I will be able to make up for it tonight. Please meet me at the address below at 7:30. Wear something cute._

_Love, Kurt_

_Address:_

_472 E. 32 Street_

 

Blaine stared at the note.

“Obviously, this is a cleverly written note from Kurt telling you where his kidnappers have taken him. You have to go meet him there tonight. I’ll come too, as backup obviously. Do you think that we should call the police?” Sam asked.

Blaine shook his head.

“Sam, I really don’t think that he’s been kidnapped. I’m sure he just wants to talk, probably get me to sign the…” Blaine sighed and closed his eyes. “The divorce papers,” he choked out with a sob. He flopped back on the couch and covered his eyes with his arm.

“Oh, come on now Blaine. I don’t think that’s…”

“Sam, you really think that it’s more likely that Kurt got kidnapped then he wants to divorce me?”

“Absolutely! Come on Blaine! There’s no way.”

Blaine just sighed and closed his eyes again.

“I hope you’re right.”

 

Several hours later, Blaine, Sam, Mercedes, Tina, and Rachel were all at the address written on Kurt’s note. Sam had convinced Blaine to bring them all as backup, just in case Kurt actually was kidnapped.

“And I brought my mace just in case,” Mercedes said.

“Yeah, and recently I’ve been taking karate classes,” Tina added. “So if the situation gets hairy, just let me take care of it guys.”

“Come on guys, we all know what’s going to happen when we go in there. Kurt is going to be sitting at a little table with Sebastian, and they’re going to be there, in love, and Kurt is going to ask me to sign the divorce papers.” Blaine’s face was stony, and his eyes were still red from crying earlier. He still looked handsome, per Kurt’s request, in a pair of navy pants and red button up shirt with a white cardigan.

The address on the paper turned out to be a restaurant, and a fancy one at that. Why Kurt would choose to break his heart here of all places, Blaine had no idea. If Blaine had to choose his ideal spot to break up, he would pick near a dumpster. That way, the place wouldn’t be ruined because it already sucked. When people break up in nice places, then that just ruins that place forever.

“Alright, well we’re ready whenever you are Blaine,” Rachel says, giving him a comforting pat on the back. Blaine gives her a weak smile.

“Yeah, I’m ready. Thank for being here with me, guys. I don’t think I could be alone after this.”

“It’s no problem, Blaine,” Mercedes said.

“Yeah, we’ve got your back,” Sam put his hand up for a high five, which Blaine weakly returned.

“Well, let’s go in.”

They walked up the stairs into the doors of the restaurant. The whole place was on a hill, overlooking the Hudson River. The building looked post-modern, and when they stepped inside, Sam gasped.

“Woah, Blaine! Kurt picked the nicest restaurant ever to get divorced/kidnapped in.”

And he was right. The interior was whimsical, yet ethereal, just like Kurt. There were low hanging lights throughout the entire restaurant, and large, floor to ceiling windows that overlooked the Hudson river. The floor was a beautiful wood paneling stained a deep brown. There was an abundance of plants in the restaurant, and even though they were dead, it gave the place a sense of life. There senses were bombarded with white, green, and brown. It almost felt like a forest, contained inside of a box in Manhattan. They walked up to the maitre’d, a short, brown haired, olive skinned woman, who was giving them a pleasant smile.

“Do you have a reservation?” she asked them.

“Uh, I don’t know,” Blaine stammered. “See, I think I’m supposed to be meeting my husband here, and-”

“Ah!” the woman said, a look of enlightenment crossing her face. “Is your husband Kurt Anderson-Hummel?”

Blaine blushed, still not used to the name.

“Yes, that’s him.”

“Right this way,” she replied. “I’ll tell you, I don’t think he was expecting this many people, but I’m gonna take you all anyways. And if you decide you want to spend some alone time with your husband,” she said, winking at Blaine, “then I’d be happy to give your friends some different seats for the night.”

“Wait,” Tina whispered, grabbing Blaine’s arm. “Kurt changed his last name?”

“Uh, yeah, he did. I didn’t ask him to or anything, but he just did it.”

“Did you change yours?” she asked.

“No,” Blaine replied, a little guiltily.

“Well, it doesn’t really matter much anymore, if you’re getting divorced. Or if Kurt’s kidnapped,” Sam said.

The maitre’d, who introduced herself as Kendra, led them down a wide hallway. Half of the hall was an elevated platform with more tables on it, next to large windows overlooking the city. When they turned a corner, Blaine saw that there were tiny balconies, with tables for two. They looked over a garden, full of bright, happy flowers and the scent of spring. They all were decorated slightly differently, and the one Kendra paused in front of was done up with hanging Chinese lanterns. She waited for them to catch up and motioned to the door.

“Well, this is your stop, tiger. Have fun.” She turned around and left the group there.

“Blaine, I think you should open that door,” Rachel said, a few feet away from it. They could see Kurt through the glass door. He had his back turned to them, and was leaning on the railing, looking at the large fountain in the middle of the garden.

“Okay,” Blaine sighed. He pulled the door open and walked through. Rachel, Tina, Sam, and Mercedes followed him. They all fit on the balcony that was surprisingly large. Blaine assumed that it was built that way for dancing, because when he stepped out he could hear the cool jazz that was playing.

Kurt turned around when he heard their footsteps.

“Blaine,” he says, eyes glimmering, and mouth turned up in the twinkling smile of a lover who’s been separated from his partner for much too long. He walks over and instantly wraps his arms around Blaine.

“I... missed you so much,” Kurt whispers into his ear.

Blaine lets Kurt hold him for a moment, not bothering to think about the divorce papers, or Sebastian, or the fact that all their friends are gawking at them right now. He just let himself enjoy it. But then he pulled back.

“Kurt,” Blaine says, “what’s going on here?”

“What do you mean?” Kurt asks, confused. “Didn’t you get my note?”

“Well, yeah, I did, but that doesn’t explain…”

“Blaine, I got this, let me take care of this,” Tina said marching forward and pushing Blaine over to the side. “How dare you do this to Blaine?!” she yells at Kurt.

“Uh… I’m confused, do what exactly?” he looks from Blaine to the other.

“Oh, don’t play dumb!” Sam added, marching up to join Tina from his place on the wall where he had been lurking. Rachel and Mercedes raised their hands in disassociation and took a step backwards.

“Come on, Kurt!” Sam yelled, shoving Kurt’s shoulder. You know exactly what we’re talking about.

“Not answering your phone calls!” Tina begins.  

“The divorce papers,” Sam adds.

“Sebastian,” Tina comments again.

“And the kidnapping!” Sam yells.

“Okay,” Kurt exhales, still confused but deciding to cooperate. “I think I understand one of the things that you’re talking about. The rest I’m not sure.” Kurt looks at Blaine. “I lost my phone, so if you were trying to call me, that’s why I wasn’t answering. I did leave you a couple messages on Facebook, to which you didn’t respond.”

“Oh, that’s why! Blaine never checks Facebook! He hasn’t even accepted my friend request yet, and that was from like two years ago!” Sam exclaimed.

Blaine shakes his head.

“H-how did you lose your phone?” he asks.

“Well, lose is putting it nicely. Elliott got a little upset one night after the show and decided to throw things around. You know how he gets. My phone just so happened to be on one of the tables that he flipped over. It was crushed beyond repair, and I decided to wait to get a new one so that we could get a new plan together because I knew your contract was almost up.”

“Well, that kind of all makes sense,” Blaine said.

“Hold on just a minute. What about Sebastian?” Sam asked pointedly.

“What about Sebastian?” Kurt repeated, looking clueless as ever.

Tina reached into her purse and pulled out the magazine with the picture of Kurt and Sebastian. She angrily flipped through it to the picture and handed it to Kurt. He took it and when he read the headline, he laughed.

“Oh come on, you guys, of all people should know that you can’t believe everything you read in a tabloid magazine. I was at some stupid birthday party for someone in the company. Sebastian happened to be there too. He got drunk beyond belief, and was stumbling all over the place, so I helped him get a taxi and get home safely. That’s it. I was laughing because he was embarrassing himself.”

“Oh please,” Sam said. “It’s just so convenient that you have an excuse for everything. What about the divorce papers. How are you going to explain that, huh?”

Kurt looked between the five of them, again, clueless.

“What divorce papers?”

“T-the envelope on the coffee table,” Blaine stammered out. “They were divorce papers. I thought you wanted me to sign them.”

“What?! No! Blaine, I got the mail this morning and that came from the government. I had no idea what it was; I didn’t even open it. I had to leave in a hurry this morning to help Marley move from her apartment, so I just threw it on the table.”

“Wait,” Blaine said. “You were helping Marley?”

“Yes,” Kurt said. “She was finally able to divorce her husband, Jake, and she came to see me a few days ago. You gave her our address, remember? Anyways, she wanted to thank you, but I told her you were gone. We talked, and I asked if she needed help moving. That’s why I wasn’t at home to greet you. Which is why I left the note.” Kurt laughed weakly. “D-did you really think I wanted a divorce?” he asked, a hint of sadness to his tone.

Blaine blanched.

“Y-yeah, for a little while, I kinda thought you did.”

“Kinda?” Sam interrupted. “Kurt, Blaine was crying on the sofa for hours. Literally. He had to call me and I had to come piece his life back together. You should’ve seen him! He was a trainwreck-”

“Okay, Sam. I think he gets it,” Blaine says.

“Aw, Blaine.” Kurt moves forward again to give him another hug. “Wait,” he says, pulling back. “What did Sam mean about kidnapping, then?”

“Oh, Sam thought the note was fake and that you had been kidnapped, and that’s why you weren’t answering your phone. He thought we were going to meet your kidnappers tonight, and they were going to ask for ransom. That’s why Sam insisted on coming, and bringing everyone else.”

Kurt laughed again. He looked between them all.

“Are you serious?”

Blaine nodded.

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“Wait, that means you really don’t know why I planned this, do you?” Kurt asked.

“No, I actually have no idea why we’re here,” Blaine replied, looking earnestly into Kurt’s eyes.

“Okay,” Kurt said, pulling back from Blaine again and walking over to a chair. He pulled it out, and picked up a blue package from the seat. It was a gift box, wrapped in blue paper, and tied with a white ribbon. He walked back over to Blaine and handed it to him.

“Happy anniversary,” Kurt said, eyes twinkling.

Blaine looked up at Kurt, wide eyed and shocked.

“N-no. There’s no way. I…” He turned to look at Sam, Tina, Mercedes, and Rachel, then back to Kurt. “I forgot our anniversary.”

“Yes, apparently,” Kurt said. “But I don’t hold it against you, considering you just spent all day worrying that I was going to divorce you, which I would never do, by the way.”

“Alright,” Rachel said, interrupting. “I think that we should all just probably go right now, leave you two alone for some privacy.”

“But it was just getting good!” Sam said.

“Come on Sam,” Mercedes said, taking his arm and pulling him out. The two boys watched them all leave. When they were gone, Blaine looked up at Kurt.

“I can’t believe you did this all,” he said.

Kurt took both of Blaine’s hands in his.

“Well believe it mister. I love you, and there’s nothing you can do about it.” Blaine’s heart stuttered in surprise. It was the first time Kurt said “I love you” since Blaine had lied to him.

“Really?”

“Yes!” Kurt exclaims. “I don’t know, I just missed you so much over the past couple months, when you were gone on tour. And especially the last few days, when I couldn’t even talk to you. It drove me crazy, being apart. And that’s when I realized, I really do love you. And before you ask whether I’ve forgiven you for the thing, I just want to say that I know you’re not perfect, Blaine. But neither am I. I mean, I held a grudge against you for seven years, for no good reason. And you lied to me. So we both have things that we could work on, but I’m willing to work on them together if your are.”

Blaine nods vigorously, tears pooling at the corners of his eyes.

“I am, I definately am.”

Kurt chuckles in relief.

“Blaine?” Kurt asked.

“Yeah?”

“You didn’t… you weren’t thinking about getting divorced right? Just so we’re on the same page, neither of us wants that, right?”

Blaine pulls Kurt in for a tight embrace.

“No, I could never… as long as you’ll keep me around, I’m yours.”

“Well,” Kurt whispered, “I guess we’re in this together, for life, huh?”

Blaine smiles against Kurt’s neck.

“I guess so.”

“Say,” Kurt whispers. “This music is really getting to me. What would you say to a dance?”

Blaine pulls away and laughs in delight.

“For you, my love? Any day.”

They wrap their arms around each other and sway slowly to the music playing.

“I love you,” Kurt says.

Blaine smiles.

“I love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys liked this chapter! There will be one or two more coming to cap things up, hopefully by the end of this week or next. Thanks so much for reading!


	14. Matched

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Super short conclusion chapter!

Kurt reached forward and straightened Blaine’s bowtie. It was an adorable, green and white striped accessory, that perfectly matched his forest green pants. Blaine’s sense of fashion was one of the many things Kurt loved about him. He took a moment to sneak an adoring look into Blaine’s eyes.

“Are you ready?” Blaine asked.

Kurt smiled at him brightly.

“Are you ready?” he replied.

“Fair enough,” Blaine chuckled. The early morning light was streaming through their hotel room. The pair was staying at an adorably quaint bed and breakfast on the outskirts of Lima. It was a mansion that was once an old summer home of a famous actor, or something. They weren’t sure of the particulars. When the owner had been explaining, Blaine had been too busy distracting Kurt by putting his arm around his husband’s waist and sneakily trying to tickle him in the side.

“My stomach just feels tingly, I guess,” Kurt says as he pulls on his own suit jacket and straightens the sleeves.

“Aww, you’re nervous,” Blaine says, an adoring smile on his face directed at Kurt. He wrapped his arms around his slight waist from behind and held him tight.

“Everything is going to be amazing,” he whispered into Kurt’s ear.

Kurt smiled nervously.

“I’m not so sure,” he replied, straightening his sleeves again for the umpteenth time.

“Kurt.” Blaine grabs at his husband’s hands willing him to stop his compulsive habit.

“You are amazing, and you’re going to do fine today. If anyone’s got this in the bag , it’s you. Plus, what makes my dad any different than any other person you’ve met, hmm?”

Kurt sighs.

“I don’t know! I just get like this sometimes! I can’t calm down. I hope you know that. I hope you are aware that you married a freak. How are you not nervous, Blaine?”

That afternoon, they were having dinner with their families. Kurt was meeting Blaine’s dad. He wasn’t very excited about the idea. He had heard stories about Blaine’s father, and they definitely weren’t pleasant.

“You are not a freak, Kurt. You’re adorable, and smart, and sexy as hell,” he proclaimed, nuzzling his nose into Kurt’s collar. “And if you happen to have some quirks, well, I don’t mind. Do you really wanna know how I’m not nervous?” Blaine asks.

“Yes!” Kurt exclaims. I’m dying to know! How are you so calm?”  
“Because, I have an amazing husband, and I will be thinking of him the entire time I’m there. Nothing in life, no matter how terrifying, can beat that wonderful feeling I get when I look into his eyes.”

Kurt blushed deeply, and took his wrists from Blaine’s hands, no longer feeling the need to obsessively straighten his already perfect sleeves.

“Well, it sounds like you have an amazing husband, then.”

“Yeah,” Blaine laughed. “I do. You should meet him some time, I have a feeling you both might have a lot in common.”

Kurt laughed and threw his arms around his husband’s neck.

“Hey, look,” Blaine began. “No matter what happens out there tonight, we’re still gonna have each other, okay? And I’m going to love you no matter what.”

Kurt sighs.

“Alright,” he says. “I’ll try and be less nervous, alright?”

Meeting Blaine’s dad ends up being worse than Kurt could’ve ever imagined.

They arrive at Blaine’s house. When they get there, Burt, Carol, Cooper, and Mrs. Anderson were already there. Apparently Mr. Anderson was out, buying last minute things for the dinner. When he arrived, he didn’t hesitate to come up to Kurt and ambush him with questions. The three men were in the living room, while everyone else was in the kitchen or dining room setting up.

“So… Kurt? That’s your name, right? How are you and Blaine doing? If you don’t mind me asking, why are you still married? I mean, Match law’s over! Why didn’t you get divorced, huh?” Blaine’s father couldn’t fool anyone with this simpleton approach of asking questions. It was more than well known that he was a lawyer. All of Blaine’s life he had been a full time lawyer, and a full time absentee father, who left the matter of raising children to his wife, so he could go and pursue his career.

Blaine looked over at Kurt, to see if he wanted to take this question, but apparently Kurt was still too nervous to function, so Blaine took it.

“Well, we had a lot of problems to work through, but after we did, everything was great.”

“Great?!” Mr. Anderson exclaimed. “How could it be great?! Our country forced you to get married based off of the results of some data based off of your social media accounts! How are you two not traumatized? Are you sure you just didn’t stay married just because you didn’t want to go through the trouble of divorce?”

Blaine was about to say something, but then Kurt interrupted.

“No! Definitely not. I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be rude, or disrespectful. I think that you are wonderful, honestly. But you don’t know Blaine or me, or our relationship. Yes, we know lots of people who had horrible matches, and awful marriages, and got divorced as soon as the law was abolished. And rightfully so. But Blaine and I...” Kurt glanced in his husband’s direction.

“I love Blaine, so much. And I hate that we had to have some terrible law bring us together. I wish that I could’ve fallen in love with him the right way, the proper way. I wish that I had the chance to woo him with flowers and cards. But the way we happened doesn’t change how we feel about each other now. I love your son.”

“Kurt,” Blaine said in quiet admiration, breathing out in disbelief.

His father crossed his arms, apparently even more upset now that Kurt answered him with a legitimate explanation.

“Oh please. You love each other? I know about you, Kurt. I heard my son talking about you when you were both in high school. You hated each other. And now you’re madly in love? What bull.” He scoffed. “You expect me to believe that everything just worked itself out?”

“Well,” Kurt interrupted, “we were definitely just being polite to each other for a while because we had to. But I have to be honest, after a while, when I put aside all of my petty dislike for Blaine, I realized I had feelings for him too.”

Blaine reaches forward and grabs Kurt’s hand.

“Dad, please don’t do this,” Blaine implores.

“Do what? I’m just trying to look out for you. And you know what, you may love each other now, but I’ve done hundreds of divorce cases. This won’t last. And when you need a lawyer, Blaine,” he says, looking at his son, “call me.”

He stalks off into the kitchen, calling his wife’s name and demanding to know what’s for dinner.

Blaine turns to face Kurt.

“Thank you for saying all that.”

Kurt looks at him in surprise.

“You don’t have to thank me, I was just telling the truth.” Kurt smiles brightly. “Blaine, I love you, and I know I will never stop loving you. I don’t care about what your dad says. I want to be with you forever, and nothing will ever change that.”

Blaine looks down, cheeks reddening, then looks back up at Kurt.

“Hey, do you want to go on a honeymoon?”

Kurt laughs.

“Isn’t it a little late for that? We’ve been married for more than a year and a half.”

“Okay, what about a slightly belated anniversary trip? Come on, we didn’t have a real honeymoon after we got married, and I wanna go away with you.”

“Hmm,” Kurt says, thinking. “Well, I think I could get a week or two off from the show, give my understudy a couple shows.”

“And I could take a break from songwriting for a bit, ask Mercedes to push our deadline back a few weeks.”

Kurt smiles. “Okay, let’s go somewhere. Where do you want to go?”

“I’d go anywhere with you,” Blaine says, swinging Kurt’s hand.

He laughs.

“Oh gosh, you are so cheesy.”

“I’m glad you think that,” Blaine says, “because that perfectly offsets your sarcasm.”

Kurt shakes his head and smiles.

“You know, I think for once, they were right. We make a perfect match.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoyed this fic! Be on the lookout for my next one, I'll be starting it soon!


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